Cherry Blossoms
by that ninja kid
Summary: Sakura and Sasuke are part of the elite Black Ops. With all the mixed up feelings from the last mission, Sakura has to leave on a mission of her own, leaving Sasuke to make an important decision of his own. Whatever he chooses, someone will get hurt.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing, characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. First story so please be kind.

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Cherry Blossoms

1

Sakura Haruno dropped on her bed. Long day at the clinic, and she was exhausted. How did she get through the day? Tsunade taught her well, she was up nearly two full days working on injured shinobi. Team Seven had a mission soon. She had to be rested for this, but emergencies happened. Such as the ones that she came in contact with yesterday. So many shinobi had been ambushed, so many injured, more dead.

Sakura closed her eyes and shot up as there was a sharp knock on her door.

Kakashi stood at her door. He lazily looked up from his perverted book.

"Hey Sakura," he waved slightly.

"What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?" she asked right away.

"I'm well how are you?" Kakashi ignored her question. "Tsunade sent me to fetch you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Tsunade knew she just got done with these long string of emergencies. Sakura followed Kakashi to the Hokage's office. There she saw Tsunade with her cup of Sake and Shizune looking out the window with Ton Ton. Sakura felt like crap, and no doubt it was being reflected in her appearance.

"Tsunade-sama?" she bowed her head. "You sent for me?"

"Yes," she sipped the cup and set it down only for Shizune to grimace as she began to pour another cup. "Sakura, I think now is the time to offer this to you. Shizune fill it to the top!"

Shizune sighed poured more.

"Anyway, I'm offering you the chance to join the ranks of the ANBU," she looked at Sakura's weary face. Shizune nearly dropped the cup as she was pouring. She realized that would mean that Sakura would be outranking her.

"Seriously?" Sakura was awake enough to understand and she was excited. "The ANBU?"

"Yes," Tsunade began to explain. "It would be immensely helpful to have an ANBU member I trust so well. Not only that but your medical talents would be very well suited for a position like this."

Kakashi looked up from his book for a moment to hear this conversation.

"It would prevent lives from being lost and all those continued strings of emergencies at the hospital," she smiled at Sakura.

"I can hardly believe this," Sakura whispered.

"Kakashi!" as Tsunade turned to him he quickly closed the book. "Take Sakura to the ANBU outfitter, he'll make a mask for her and the proper uniform to fit her style."

"Yes, Lady Hokage," he stood up to leave but Sakura stopped him when he heard her ask a question.

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura began. "What about Team Seven's mission that's coming up? ANBU don't go on the same kind of missions."

"I'm assigning it to a different team, besides the rest of your team will be busy with other things," she grinned a knowing smile.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked slightly confused.

"I mean Sasuke is trying out for an ANBU position too, Naruto is trying to become a jounin, and I believe Kakashi will probably be called back into the ANBU. You may all be a team again, just as part of the ANBU," Tsunade explained.

"How can our team be an ANBU team if Naruto is only a jounin?" Sakura inquired.

"Simple, Sai will take his place until he is ready," she answered. Tsunade drank her cup of Sake again. "It may take awhile but it may not, we never know with Naruto."

Sakura nodded, she bowed as she left but as she left she muttered to Kakashi, "I can't imagine Sasuke and Sai getting along much better."

"Me either," he chuckled.

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I know it's short but there should be more to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is purely a fanfiction. Only my second so reviews would be appreciated.

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Cherry Blossoms

2

The small shop that outfitted shinobi specialized in ANBU uniforms. Properly made clothing as important for shinobi. The shop was tiny and in an older building. Sakura was taken inside and an older woman came out with a measuring tape.

"You're late," she snapped at Sakura.

"Must be my influence," Kakashi spoke from a chair in the main lobby. "Sorry ma'am."

The woman mumbled something under her breath before taking Sakura back to take measurements.

"How did you know to expect me?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"Tsunade told me to expect a pink haired girl for an ANBU fitting at noon," she began to measure Sakura's height.

Sakura smiled, "She knew I'd accept."

the woman grumbled something and took her measurements in silence. The clock on the wall read 12:16. They had been late by nearly fifteen minutes.

The wall on the far side of the room had many ANBU masks. Sakura admired them, wondering which was for her as the measurements were being taken.

"Done," the older woman coughed lightly into her sleeve. "It should take only a day at most to make."

"What about a mask?" Sakura looked hopeful.

"Not today," she answered quickly. "Tomorrow when you pick up your order, you will be given a mask that suits you."

Sakura nodded. It made perfect sense.

**Later... **

Sakura sat down next to her blonde teammate.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura said cheerfully.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" he said happily. "Do you know what this little get together is about?"

"I have an idea," her smile full of secrets.

"Tell me!" he demanded.

"Quiet Naruto!" Sasuke's smooth and irritated voice shut Naruto up. Sasuke stood taller than the two who were seated. His dark eyes looked beyond them as he said a quieter hello to someone else.

"Glad you could all make it," Kakashi waved a hello. "Although I don't see Sai in attendance."

"Is he really part of Team Kakashi?" Naruto narrowed his eyes and complained.

"That's only part of what I wanted to talk about," Kakashi sat down. "We should wait for him to arrive."

"If your here Kakashi then he must not be coming," Sasuke remarked.

Kakashi looked offended, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Kakashi your never on time," Sakura chimed in.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "You're always last, so he must be busy."

"Well," Kakashi tried to change the subject. "Aside from that we've all got news to share. Except Naruto."

"Hey!"

"Sakura and Sasuke have both been accepted into the ANBU," Kakashi smiled.

"What about me?" Naruto squawked in the back ground as Sakura and Sasuke congratulated each other.

"Naruto is becoming a jounin finally," Sasuke spoke up in Naruto's defense for once. It was hard to believe that Sasuke was back in the village but there he was. He grew up into someone who was finally able to mostly get along with others.

Sasuke would have others believe it's because he's rebuilding the Uchiha clan. He wouldn't want to disgrace a newly founded clan. Although his clan still consists of only him. Finding the truth about his brother he decided to honor him and rebuild the family all over again. He lived in the Uchiha complex, in his old home. Lonely as it may seem to others Sasuke rarely stayed there.

"Took him long enough," Sakura laughed. Her pink hair bobbed from side to side as she laughed. "Naruto was a genin longer than any of us."

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto made a face. "I was to busy training with Jiraya-sama to take the chunin exams."

"Sure, sure," she rolled her eyes.

"Sakura-chan," he repeated.

Everyone became silent for a moment as they ordered their ramen. A steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of each of them, along with a cup of hot tea. Naruto handed out chopsticks and they broke them at the same time.

The three stopped before taking their first bite. They remembered the old times when they tried to see Kakashi's face. The curiosity biting away at them. Sakura was seated next to him.

"Kakashi," she smiled sweetly. "Why don't you take the first bite?"

"That reminds me," he began. They all made a face. "We'll be an ANBU team."

_How does ramen remind you of this, _they all thought.

"Wait a minute," Naruto looked at Kakashi. "What about me? I'm not going to be in the ANBU."

"Glad you asked Naruto," they could see the smile even under the mask. "You'll be working hard to earn your position on the ANBU. However Sai will be our teammate in your stead."

"What?!"

"Sai?" Sasuke asked. He had never been properly introduced.

"He was your replacement for awhile," Sakura let slip.

"My replacement?" the look he had on his face. It was like she slapped him. "He couldn't replace me."

"No way man," Naruto agreed. Sakura and Kakashi exchanged a smile. "That kid is so not cool enough. And he doesn't say nice things at all!"

Sakura sighed in agreement, "Sadly it's true."

The ramen was still plenty hot, Naruto burned his tongue so bad from the broth that he could barely taste the rest of his ramen. He slurped and burped and the other three gave each other embarrassed looks. Exchanging a single though with a look, _how did this kid become a ninja?_

The night sky was dark and cloudy. The air was chilly. Everyone pulled on a coat or the sleeves of their sweaters as they walked home. Sakura walked with Sasuke for a ways. Both were silent. The Uchiha complex was far from the normal ramen shop they attended. Sakura's apartment was only about a mile away from this.

They were crossing the bridge and a gust of wind blew the leaves on the tree wild. The near by tree was a cherry blossom tree. The wind carried the petals over the water and into Sakura's face.

She blinked as the petals hit her lightly in the face and some fell in her hair.

Sasuke turned around to see her wiping them away. He walked up and picked a petal she missed from her hair.

"How fitting," the corners of his mouth slide up slightly. "They go with your pink hair."

Sakura stood there, she was slightly blushing. _Did he just smile at me... and compliment me?_ She watched his receding figure as he entered his abandoned appearing home. She knew she had to walk, for the night only seemed to grow darker.

Her thoughts remained with him though. _This can't be happening now. Not after I got over him. _She felt like punching something. Instead she decided to jog home. The running would clear her mind.

Wind whipping through her hair she ran home to her empty apartment. Finally she collapsed onto her bed and got a good night's sleep that she had been missing for awhile. She didn't even crawl under the blankets. She hit the alarm clock and collapsed from exhaustion onto her bed.

The last thing she saw was the very old picture of team seven. Sasuke looking moody, Naruto looked happy, Sakura was overjoyed and Kakashi was hanging back. _We've all grown up,_ she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, this is just my fan fiction. Reviews would be appreciated since this is my first series.

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Cherry Blossoms

3

Sakura's pink hair covered her eyes. She gently brushed them away as she looked at her alarm clock. For a moment she feared that she had woken up and turned her alarm clock off and fell back asleep. Tsunade would never let her forget that day.

It was only five fifteen in the morning. She was amazed at how she was able to sleep so well in that amount of time. As much as she wanted to sleep in today was no such day. She got up and immediately searched the kitchen for something edible. She hadn't eaten at home in awhile. She pulled out her favorite cereal with a smile on her face, then she grabbed the milk. First she checked the expiration date. Sadly the milk was long over the expiration date.

She took out the first piece of cereal, clearly thinking she could just nibble on the pieces. Only to find that they too were bad.

"Milk's bad, cereal's stale, what is there to eat?" she sighed out loud. "Time to shop."

She dressed in her everyday clothing. Pink shirt, black shorts, white skirt and her black boots. She headed out the door past a park and finally she got to that bridge. She slowed her pace for a second. If she hadn't she would have missed the crashing sound coming from the Uchiha complex.

Curiosity getting the better of her she decided to peek into the window. Now if any sane person were awake and looking outside they might have seen her standing in the dead flowers peeking into Sasuke's kitchen. She got one good look and had to cover her mouth to stop the fit of giggling she knew would make her presence known. Here was Sasuke in his kitchen holding a frying pan with what looked like severely burnt eggs. Not only that but he had on an apron. His hair was messy and he looked very grumpy.

"I can hear you Sakura!" Sasuke threw an egg at her head. She realized once it was too late that the window was open. _That's why I heard him from the bridge,_ she thought.

"What are you doing in the flowers at this time in the morning?" his eyes seemed to look right through her.

"Uh," she had to think quickly. Say the wrong thing and get the frying pan chucked at her head. "Sasuke?"

"What?" Sasuke did not seem like a morning person to her.

"Want some breakfast?" She smiled. She was left to wipe the pieces of burnt egg from her cheek and shirt as she waited for him to open the front door. He only opened it ajar and left to retreat to the kitchen table where he sat down and waited for her to start.

She took off her shoes and put on the slippers available in the front. It was the first time she'd ever been in his house. Ino would kill her if she found out. Just that thought made her smile unconsciously.

"What's with that stupid grin?" he thought she was grinning about his house.

"Sorry," she nearly blushed from being caught grinning like an idiot.

Once she did get a good look around she was surprised by the mess. Peeking down the hall his bedroom door was open and his blankets and pillows thrown all about. The clothes piled up on his floor. In the living room ninja weapons were laid out, along with a thick cover of dusting on the tables and counters. The indoor plants looked shriveled and dishes were piling up.

Sakura had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something like 'dear god' about his house. Luckily Sasuke was to preoccupied by his tea to notice the look on her face.

"Right," she said. Sudden confidence in her cooking took charge. "Breakfast coming right up."

**20 minutes later... **

Sakura had just set the plate down for Sasuke. She wiped her hands on the apron not twenty minutes ago he was wearing. She tried not to get her hopes up, she knew how he was about these things. She began to fill her own plate when she sat down and waited for a reaction.

Sasuke took his first bite and he made a forced looking frown.

"It's okay," he said to the waiting Sakura.

"Oh," was all she could say. _Yeah so much for not getting your hopes up._ Internally she scolded herself. She stopped when Sasuke cleared his throat.

"I meant," he hesitated for a moment, like he'd choke on the words. He turned his attention to her, "It's actually good..."

Sakura couldn't help herself, a huge smile broke out onto her face. _Sakura your grinning like a fool._ Sasuke looked away and stuffed more food into his mouth. That was the end of his conversation.

**Later...**

Sakura and Sasuke walked into the shinobi outfitter together. Sakura had stayed to help Sasuke clean and pick up, and he walked with her there. Both had to pick up their ANBU uniforms and masks. Sakura was excited. The ANBU had the coolest uniforms, made of the best materials. The masks added to their illusion and hidden identity. Her pink hair would contrast with the black and white beautifully.

The old woman who ran the shop came to greet them right away.

"Your precisely on time," she smiled. "Fabulous! Let's get you two dressed. Sasuke, Hibiki shall dress you. Sakura my assistant Aiko will dress you. I shall bring the masks that feel like their yours."

The little woman left them and went into the back room. A woman a little older than Sakura gestured her into a room. A man nearly Kakashi's age ushered Sasuke into another room.

Sakura's dresser was kind, she was careful with her movements and Sakura's white vest. Sakura had two white ANBU vest's one tied in the front and the other was tied in the back. Each was given several uniforms to wear. Sakura started with a black off the shoulders shirt. The white vest that tied in front with pink strings rather than black. She had black shorts with her usual black boots. All that was missing was the beautiful mask she would wear.

Sasuke on the other hand had a dresser than wanted to be done fast. He had Sasuke dressed and ready to go and he was constantly fiddling with this or that until the older woman came into the little room.

"Sasuke Uchiha," she glided over to stand between the mirror and Sasuke. In her weathered hands was little box. Finely decorated. "This box is only used to preserve the mystery of the mask."

Sasuke nodded, understanding completely.

"I'm ready," he said after a few seconds of silence.

The woman opened the box to reveal a mask that was simple and beautiful. It wasn't an animal, it was to simply put it, just rounded. It had a white finish except for the one place where there was black, over the left eye was the ANBU symbol.

"Wear this proudly Sasuke," she bowed and left the mask in his hands.

Sakura was laughing lightly when the little old woman entered. Aiko had been telling her something that made her laugh. Trying to ease the anxious minutes away. Sakura's eyes fixed on the little box that was carried into the room.

"This is yours Sakura," she opened the antique box to show the mask inside. She pulled a mask that looked like a tiger. The stripes looked like branches of a cherry tree with the blossoms blooming to fill out the size of the stripe. Of course it was in pink.

Sakura gently took the mask and Aiko had to put it on for Sakura just stared.

"Now take your uniforms and your clothes and go get the ANBU tattoo," she smiled cheerfully.

Sakura carried her mask out and she immediately left for the final step in becoming an ANBU member.

**That evening...**

Sakura decided to celebrate with her ANBU team, and Naruto. Naruto would complain if he was left out. She ordered take out for the group and they sat in her living room chatting. Naruto was being loud about how he wanted more ramen and telling Sai how ramen was better for a growing ninja. Kakashi rolled his eyes at Naruto's comments. Sakura would laugh when she wasn't swallowing her food. Kakashi went into the kitchen to eat in peace, and Sasuke would argue with Naruto telling him how ramen didn't taste good anyway.

"They act like... like," Sai looked for the phrase to explain what he thought about Naruto and Sasuke. "They act like a married couple." Sai's fake smile only emphasized it.

Sakura laughed so hard tears started to form. Sasuke nearly choked on a piece of chicken, but the deadly glare was given to Naruto when he spit out his tea in Sasuke's face. Sakura snorted once from laughing and everyone else, including Sai, broke out into laughter.

The happy moment was ruined when Kakashi cleared his throat to interrupt.

"Sorry to cut this short but Tsunade sent a runner to tell us to report in for our first ANBU mission as a team," Kakashi didn't look at Naruto.

"But Kakashi," Naruto whined. "What about me?"

"You're to take on as many high ranking missions as possibly to catch up to your teammates," a smile evident in his voice.

"It's not fair," he grumbled.

"We have to report in now?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Kakashi said seriously. "She said it was urgent."

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It may be slow in the begining but I'll get to the good stuff soon. ;) thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: AgainI'd like to say that I do NOT own Naruto. This is just my fan fic and any and all reviews would be nice seeing as this is my first series and I'd apperciate the advice. Read. Enjoy. Review. **

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Cherry Blossoms

4

The ANBU team arrived in the fifth Hokage's office. Papers were scattered and she looked... upset.

"Shizune!" Lady Tsunade yelled.

"Y-yes?" Shizune stepped forward.

"What happened to the paper I just had about this situation?!" Tsunade glared at Shizune.

"Um, isn't that it in your hand?" she was afraid to speak it. Tsunade, as many knew, had one nasty punch.

"So it is," she seemed to cool down. "Team Seven, glad you could make it."

Naruto tried to sneak into the room, hiding behind Kakashi. Tsunade didn't pay attention to him.

"You sent for us?" Sasuke got to the point.

"Yes," Tsunade pushed other papers aside to place the one with mission details in front of her. "I've received news that we lost two outposts located just outside of the village. I sent a small team to investigate and the news they brought back was bad. Team Seven you're going to visit the village in which both outposts were in contact with. It is them we've ultimately lost contact with. Because of that we have no knowledge of the status of the village. Currently so many ninja's are on their own missions, otherwise I'd send more than just your team."

"Oh, man," Naruto spoke up. "I suppose this is an ANBU level mission?"

"Naruto!" Sakura and Shizune shouted finally noticing him.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Shizune said.

"It's fine Shizune," Tsunade held up a hand. "I've considered the ranking. Naruto I'm considering the ranking of this mission to be ANBU or at least jounin. Neither of which you are."

Naruto grumbled under his breath.

"Lady Tsunade," Sakura spoke up. "Because we don't know the circumstances shouldn't we take as many as we possibly can to aide this search and recover mission? Other teams surely will be coming back soon-"

"No! Not them! Take me!" Naruto let slip. "Tsunade please! Their my team!"

"I wasn't finished Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke rubbed his temples, the yelling was hell on his head. "When those teams come back they can be here to act on emergencies and protect the village, then Naruto would be free to come with us. We're all highly skilled Shinobi, we are more than capable of finishing the mission and protecting Naruto should he get in danger."

Sasuke held back a laugh. _If Naruto should get in danger, the kid throws himself into the enemy's line of fire and somehow manages to make it work. Any of us being in danger is inevitable._

Tsunade smiled, "Well said Sakura. Naruto I grant you permission to assist your team. It will not be classified as an ANBU mission so wear your usual mission attire. You'll leave tomorrow bright and early, head first to the outposts then follow their maps to the village."

Everyone in Team Seven nodded.

"Dismissed," Tsunade waved.

**Moments later...**

Sakura stopped mid thought. The overwhelming smell of flowers wafted through the air to her. She noticed her aimless walking had brought her to her old friend's flower shop. _Ino_, Sakura thought.

Without second thought Sakura pushed the door and a friendly familiar voice rang out, "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers!"

"Hey Ino Pig!" Sakura said cheerfully.

A blonde head popped up from behind a row of flowers.

"Hey Billboard Brow!" she smiled big and waved at her old friend. "I heard!"

Sakura just smiled.

"Come here a second," Ino commanded. Sakura followed her voice and walked past the flowers. Along the way she held out hands to let her fingers touch the soft petals of the flowers, until her finger got pricked on a thorn.

"Ow," Sakura said softly. "Darn thorns..."

"Here!" Ino put a small pink flower in Sakura's hand. "It's to congratulate you on becoming an ANBU member! It's pink because, well, so are you!"

"Thanks Ino!" Sakura smiled as she looked at the small flower.

"Now that will be $.50," Ino smiled a mischievous grin.

"What?!" Sakura's smile fell. "I thought it was a gift!"

"It is," Ino sounded confident. "It's employee discounted, that's the gift."

Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes. _This is something Ino would so do._

For a moment Sakura counted the money and Ino waited patiently. Suddenly she looked impatient. When Sakura handed her the change Ino ran past her.

Sakura turned to see what caught her attention so.

It, of course, was Sasuke. Sakura made a face at her friend's obvious flirting.

"Here Sasuke," Ino handed him a bright yellow flower.

"What's this?" he looked confused, and not to all together fond of the flower.

"It's a congratulatory gift for making the ANBU ranks," Ino smiled big.

Sakura was walking out when she over heard this. "Hey Ino?"

"What Sakura?" she sounded irritated at the pinkette's interruption.

"Are you gonna charge him for that?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Of course not!" Ino looked insulted. "It's a gift! Why would I charge him for it?!"

Sakura's face began to twitch from irritation as she walked away. She grumbled many things and she had a twinge of something else. She forced herself to push that last thought out of her head.

"You could put that in your house, spruce it up a bit, add some color," Ino suggested. "I could even come by and plant some out front if ya like."

"That's, uh, nice Ino," Sasuke looked slightly uncomfortable. "Only problem is I don't garden... much. They wouldn't survive."

Ino smiled, unfazed by his comment, "No problem. I could come by in the mornings and water them for you."

"Sasuke," Ino said loud enough for Sakura to hear. "Why don't you tell me about your last mission?" Sasuke walked with Ino, this he actually enjoyed. Bragging about himself.

Sakura looked back once more before grunting unladylike and walking away. _Ino of course still loves him_, Sakura thought

Kakashi happened to walk to his friend Asuma's to see if him and his team was back from their mission yet. He knocked on the door, when he heard no answer he was about to turn around until he heard the familiar voice, "Out back!"

Kakashi lazily walked out back, his hands in pockets to see Asuma and Shikamaru in an intense shogi match. "I thought your team was still in the mountains Asuma."

"Well, we got back this morning," Asuma laughed lightly as he moved a shogi piece. "Ino's parents had her tend to the shop after she napped, and Choji is still probably celebrating with his family on a mission well done. They went to his favorite BBQ joint. It's expensive for us all to eat there. Shikamaru and I were just passing the time with shogi."

Shikamaru lazily waved at Kakashi as he moved a piece across the board. "I win Asuma-sensei."

Asuma sighed, "Good game Shikamaru. Well played as always."

"So whats up with the other teams?" Kakashi leaned against a tree as Asuma went to stand and talk to his friend.

"Kurenai's team is off with Guy and his team," Asuma explained. "See Kurenai's pregnant. They went on a mission out into the east some time back. We've got regular reports coming back from them. Last I know they sent one in two days ago saying it should be wrapped up soon."

"I see," Kakashi brushed the back of his head off where he thought a bug crawled on his headband. "So are you two going to marry before the baby is born or after?"

Asuma smiled, "Before. Boy Kakashi you sure don't miss anything."

"Well it's obvious to those who know you both well," he laughed at his friend's comment. "It's good to see you both tie the knot."

Naruto headed for the training fields where he found Sakura fighting a punching bag. He watched for a second until he realized that she was upset. She didn't punch that hard unless she was mad, like Tsunade.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted over the noise.

Sakura gave one last heavy punch to the punching bag before the bag ripped open and the sand poured out. She turned to his direction and squinted. "Yeah Naruto?"

"Uh," he hesitated. "Wanna spar?"

The corners of Sakura's lips curled up in a grin.

"Go easy on me!" she shouted back.

"Right, me go easy on her," he said sarcastically as he approached.

**The next morning... **

Naruto yawned and stretched as he waited along with his teammates for Kakashi to arrive. "Gosh Sakura you really left bruises."

"Well, you didn't dodge very well!" she reasoned with him. Moments later, "Gosh Kakashi needs to buy a watch!"

It was six am and they were supposed to be gone already.

"He hasn't changed a bit," Sasuke said in his annoyed voice.

"He does take his time," Sai smiled.

"What took you all so long?" Kakashi walked up from behind them. He of course was teasing but Naruto had an outburst.

"Us?! Kakashi you've never been on time for anything in your life!"

"That's not true," he barely tried to defend himself. "Your all early."

"Shall we get going then?" Sai spoke up.

"Might as well," Sasuke sighed and they followed Sasuke as they left the leaf village.

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**Thanks for reading, remember to review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: As always I do not own Naruto. Not a single character. Keep in mind that reviews are welcomed, and much appreciated. Enjoy.**

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Cherry Blossoms

5

Naruto, and Sasuke lead the group up the road to the small outpost. It wasn't far of a walk but it was quiet. Kakashi stayed back while Sakura and Sai were in the middle. Before they even got to the outpost Sakura shushed the whisperings up front and stopped everyone.

"What's going on Sakura?" Naruto whispered.

"What do you hear Naruto?" she whispered quietly back to him.

He listened intently for a moment, straining his ears to hear something. He shrugged in response to Sakura.

"Exactly," Sasuke half smiled at Sakura. The smile made her heart flutter, inside she had to yell at herself to focus. "Good ears Sakura."

"Get ready," Kakashi pulled out a kunai. "It's probably an ambush."

They got to the small outpost without someone jumping them. However when they got there their was a rogue ninja sitting atop the tower.

"Looky here," he said out loud. "Better get ready for another fight partner!"

The rogue ninja jumped down from his sitting place. Another figure appeared from the shadows, "It does appear that we have guests. They came uninvited and left us unprepared partner."

"They're not from our village," Kakashi pointed out. "Capture and interrogate."

Everyone either muttered a yes or nodded.

Naruto charged head first into the one who had jumped from the roof. He had shorter hair than the other. His clothes were made for light weather unlike his partner. His partner had long hair, and wore dark robes.

Naruto made his clones as he charged. Everyone seemed to wait to evaluate the enemy from this first encounter. The rogue ninja pulled out two shuriken and threw them at the two shadow clones of Naruto.

Naruto went for a punch and the rogue dodged and caught the arm easily.

"Little hasty runt," he laughed.

Naruto grit his teeth. He broke the guys hold on his arm and went to punch him but the rogue was already caught. Sai's painted lions held one arm in both mouth.

"Nice diversion Naruto," Sai smiled.

Naruto shrugged him off and the second rogue ninja with the long hair laughed.

"What a horrible partner," he laughed. "I won't fail where my partner did."

Sai began to quickly paint what looked like plants reaching up from the ground. As soon as it was created the rogue ninja jumped away from it like it was nothing. He landed a ways away and a smirk appeared on his face. His eyes looked different. One was blue and the other was a green.

"What's with those eyes?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"Well," he chuckled. "Allow me to show you!"

A hand emerged from the ground and caught Sakura's feet. She saw a face that looked just like him. The eyes were the same color just switched. She was trapped. The first rogue ninja was able to break free from the painted lions.

"We called for back up the second we heard the animals quiet," the first said. "Together we'll destroy you and then we can attack Konoha!"

Nearly everyone from team seven suppressed an eye roll. Konoha was the target.

With Sakura being held in place the the second rogue ninja threw a large quantity of shuriken at her. At first she pulled out a kunai but she couldn't block that many. Instead she focused chakra into her fist and aimed for the arms in the ground.

The ground shook and it crumbled beneath her punch. She got low enough to dodge the shurikens. The ninja who held Sakura in place appeared next to his twin. Standing next to each other they linked arms and they used each others arms to form hand signs.

Above them two more rogue ninja stood atop the building. They jumped down to join the three already occupied. These two were girls. One had purple hair tied back and the other had black hair that was longer in front than in the back.

"Saving some for us I see," the girl with black hair said. She licked her lips like she was hungry and they were waving fresh steak in her face. She went to face off with Sai, the the purple haired girl focused on Kakashi and the twins with the colored eyes chose to take on Sakura and Sasuke while Naruto got the first rogue ninja.

**Sai**

Sai sketched a quick clone of himself and brought him to life as the black haired girl narrowed her eyes on him. She summoned a long chain with a bigger version of a kunai one one end. He took out his small sword and when she swung outwards at him with it he dodged rather than tried to block.

His clone caught the chain allowing him an opening to attack her openly. Seeing this chance he went to attack but she was already swinging his clone at him. Sai got back up and moved just in time to narrowly miss the chains end smacking into the ground where he had just been. He picked up the chain before she could pull it back to her. He pulled the chain and her towards him. She brought her knee up to knee him in the gut but he blocked with one hand and knocked her down with the other.

After that he was to keep her down and out of the fight.

**Kakashi**

The purple haired girl looked fragile almost but she was quick. She appeared behind Kakashi only seconds after she had approached him. She stuck a kunai into his back but his substitution jutsu was faster. Thankfully. He hid himself in a tree and watched as his freshly made shadow clone withstood her oncoming attacks.

"This is pretty useless you know," he tried to point out. "I'm the copy ninja after all."

She smirked.

His fist was hitting nothing but air. He could detect the moves before she had the speed to pull it off. She made a clone within a moment and the clone made the hand signs to perform a jutsu.

No sooner had she completed the hand signs and small earth walls appeared around Kakashi. He couldn't keep up with her attacks and defend against the jutsu.

The real Kakashi jumped from the trees as his clone was crushed.

She let a low growl when she saw him appear. It was only her standing there now.

Kakashi charged his chidori attack. She saw him coming and stood there. He got close and then her she popped out of the ground and hit him. His aim still hit his target. Which was still the original. She thought her clone strong enough to fully stop Kakashi. She was wrong.

Kakashi proceeded to tie her to the nearest tree.

**Naruto**

The first rogue ninja grinned as he approached Naruto. His friends were all busy fighting. This rogue ninja threw shuriken and kunai at Naruto. He jumped high to get away.

The ninja then threw more shuriken and Naruto had to make a clone to pull him away from the line of fire. The rogue pulled out a scroll and jumped into the air. It was a weapons scroll.

It sent a massive amount of weapons flying at Naruto. They came from every direction except below him. Copying his earlier move he made the clone to push him down faster. The weapons clashed and made a loud clang as they fell.

Naruto had to have his clones throw him higher into the air again for there was a trap of small bits of sharp metal laid on the ground for him to fall onto. Once in mid air again the rogue charged him head on with his sword.

Naruto had his clone make his rasengan. The two charged at each other and Naruto's rasengan missed the sword's blade barely, it hit him square in the chest. His blade however left a long thin slash all the way up Naruto's arm.

Back on the ground Naruto had his clones hold him down.

**Sakura and Sasuke**

The twin rogues finished the jutsu together and one started his own as the first jutsu started. It shook the ground where they both stood. Sakura leaped to one side and Sasuke to the other when a fireball came at them. The ground was still shaking horribly where she landed and she fell to her knees. The one not doing the fireball jutsu puled out a metal spike. Running through the shakes it rammed the spike through one of Sakura's hands. Pinning her to the ground. That's when the cracking was heard. The shaking stopped and the tall look out tower behind the small out post building had a big crack that kept going up the side. It slide down and it was crashing down in the direction of Sakura.

Sasuke had been throwing his own fireball at the other. His overpowered the rogue's, the rogue dissolved under the fireball's heat. The other twins eyes returned to normal, like he had just received his brother. He moved out of the way to watch as the tower would crush the pink haired girl.

Sakura pulled slightly at the spike. It hurt so much, it felt like it was on fire. Time was moving slowly. She couldn't pull for long before the pain made her stop. When it got closer she gave up and shielded herself with one arm.

"Sakura!" was that last thing she before the loud crash of the tower.

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**Update's might come slower now. The end of the school year is here and boy some teachers got together and decided to pile on the projects. Once summer vacation arrives though I'll probably release them fast. **

**Can't wait for that.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Like I've stated a bajillion times, I don't Naruto. This is my fanfic. SasuSaku. Enjoy!**

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Cherry Blossoms

6

Sakura opened her eyes to see a dust and dirt cloud all around her. Her hand stung like crazy, but she was alive. She was aware that someone had thrown their arms around her to carry her from danger. Also ripping the spike out at the same time so as to not injure her further.

She looked into the face of the one that had rescued her. Sasuke. He held the metal spike in one hand and he held her delicately in the other. His eyes seemed to soften greatly when he saw that she was okay.

She had to focus on her hand to keep from blushing.

Sasuke took her injured hand for a second and looked at it, "You going to be able to heal that?"

She brought her attention to the hole in her hand.

"Healing palm requires that I have two hands, but I can try with only one," she replied.

"It's okay if you can't," he told her. "Stay here."

Sakura busied herself by trying to heal her hand with the one properly working hand.

"It seems my twin and I missed," the ninja laughed. His laugh was cut short when the chidori pierced his heart.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled. "I said to capture not kill!"

Sakura's hand wasn't closing completely but now it was just a big gash on each side of her hand.

"Let's try to get any info out of these guys that we can. If they've got nothing you know what to do, if they refuse," Kakashi smiled at everyone. "You know what to do then too."

The capture were set together. Kakashi proceeded to ask questions.

"Do you know what happened to the village that this outpost was in contact with?" he poked one prisoner with the pointy end of the kunai. "Are they safe? Are they overrun? What's going on?"

The rogue ninja Naruto fought spit at Kakashi, "Go to hell!"

"That's not very nice," he stood up and turned to Sai. "Sai, you know what to do with this one."

The boy showed no emotion but nodded. He took the prisoner away from everyone else. He dragged him through mud and the trees so he was far away enough to give the ninja his last chance.

"Last chance to keep your life," he spoke in his emotionally devoid voice. "Any info you can give us aids in you keeping your life."

The rogue was not convinced. "I've nothing to share, I was never told anything."

"Very well," Sai smiled.

A few moments later Sai came back without the prisoner. "He had nothing."

Sakura kept back and attended to Naruto's wound while Kakashi asked the rest. She was vaguely aware when the next person was dragged off.

"Naruto you've got to be more careful," she scolded halfheartedly.

"I know," he laughed. "But it got the job done."

She gave him a weak smile while she tried to heal his wound. It was taking her longer than normal. She tried harder to focus but it was useless. She felt shaky and weak. It took an enormous amount of her chakra to heal her own hand with the other. She sighed and mentally kicked herself for being selfish.

"Sakura," Naruto patted her good hand. "It's okay if you don't have the chakra to heal it. Just bandage it up. Besides if it leaves a scar it's okay! Scars are cool! Proof that I kick butt and live!"

His attempts to make her smile worked a little. She had a half smile on her face. She went to sit and recover for a bit while they finished interrogations.

Sai dragged the last of them away.

"The little buggers didn't want to talk," Kakashi sighed. "We'll definitely have to go find that village and check up on them."

"No problem!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"We should camp here for tonight," Sai suggested after glancing at Sakura. "I'll send word that we've taken back this outpost."

"Thanks Sasuke," Kakashi replied. "I'll get the tents set up, Sasuke go see if you can help Sakura at all. It's hard to bandage your hand alone. Naruto got gather firewood for a fire."

They nodded and split up.

Naruto made his clones and scoured the forests for firewood. He stifled a small surprised scream when he came to the clearing Sai came to with the prisoners. He hadn't been expecting that their bodies were still there. So he took the time to have his clones bury them.

Sai found the phone in the outpost. The wires were cut but easily fixable. He spent less than ten minutes reconnecting wires and then calling Hokage to send word that one of the two outposts had been taken back. Kakashi messed with the tents and when he though he had a decent one it collapsed on him when he went inside.

"Looks like we'll be sleeping under the stars," he muttered to himself.

Sasuke walked over to Sakura. Her hand was red and raw and the gashes on both sides looked like they could tear open any second. The bandages were in her good hand. Like she'd tried to do it on her own. He gingerly took her hand and began wrapping it.

She looked up to see his dark eyes focused on her hand. Of course she grimaced frequently but at least he wrapped it. She could heal it more later.

"Thanks," she said in a small voice. "Thought I was a goner."

"You would have been," he said in a sharp voice. His eyes softened and then so did his voice. "But it didn't end that way. I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him from sticking the spike into your hand. Must have hurt"

His eyes locked on hers for a brief moment before she looked away. Sasuke was apologizing to her for something that wasn't his fault. She couldn't hide the blush that crept up onto her cheeks.

"I'm sorry too," she made her good hand into a fist. "I don't want to hold you guys back at all."

"I wasn't held back," he reasoned. "Sakura your important, we have to keep you in good condition. Your our healer and support."

She tried to unclench her fist.

"Your our friend," he said in a softer tone. "Any one of us would die trying to protect another. Except maybe Sai... he's still getting used to emotions and all."

The fire was going and they all walked to sit around it. Sakura was eating the same thing that everyone else ate, Naruto was the only one who brought something different.

"Naruto?" Sai looked at him questioningly. "How can you bring ramen along on a mission. Here you got injured and your body needs nutrients to heal itself. Ramen isn't going to help."

Naruto grunted in response. He was too busy chomping on the ramen noodles to care or respond. Sakura rolled her eyes. She'd had this argument with him for over three years and it never made any difference. Around the fire they all ate silently, except Naruto who made little approval noises of his ramen frequently. When they were finished Kakashi spoke up.

"So Sai informed me that he sent word back to the Hokage that we secured this base," he looked at everyone before continuing. "I'm going to send a scouting team tonight to check the other outpost. They have a good chance of staying hidden in the dark. Naruto you will not be going on this mission, and Sakura neither will you."

"What! Kakashi!" Naruto nearly spit his ramen in Kakashi's face. "How can I not go!"

Sakura gritted her teeth. She bopped Naruto on the head. "Maybe that's why! Your so freaking loud!"

"Well so are you maybe that's why we're staying behind!" Naruto was quick to point out.

Sakura opened her mouth to comment back but Kakashi held up an hand at both of them. "Enough. Naruto, yes you are to loud and not stealthy enough for this. Sakura, you're too injured. Sasuke and Sai will scope it out and bring news back."

"Got it," Sasuke nodded.

"Yes," Sai agreed.

"Damn...they're not that stealthy..." Naruto grumbled.

"Naruto," Kakashi scolded. "Don't argue. At this rate it will take you a long time to become jounin let alone hokage."

Naruto went quiet but he didn't wipe the ugly look off his face. His poked the fire with a stick until Kakashi said it was time to kill the fire. Sasuke and Sai got up to pack some supplies. They jumped away into the trees and it seemed they were swallowed by the darkness.

Kakashi pulled out his book and attempted to read in the darkness. Naruto threw shuriken at a tree until he accidentally cut his hand. He had been throwing them for nearly an hour when he reached for one stuck deep that it cut his finger. "Ouch!"

Sakura had been napping but her head jerked up quickly. "What's wrong Naruto?"

"Nothing," he tried to hide the cut but she was up and walking over as if it were vital. "It's fine."

"Let me see," he tried to pull his hand back. He didn't want her using her chakra on his cut when she had her own hand to still heal. She used only a little of her chakra to heal the small red line. Taking a clean cloth she wiped the blood away and smiled. "All better."

"Thanks Sakura-chan," he smiled back.

"Sakura..." Sasuke cleared his throat. She nearly jumped at the sound of her name.

"Your back," was all she said. She let go of Naruto's hand and stepped back.

"Time to regroup," he replied. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes lingering on her hands. Then he turned and didn't wait for her. They sat in a little circle and Sasuke and Sai pulled out their pieces of evidence.

"What we found out was those reinforcements came from that second outpost," Sai stated. He held up a lock of the purple hair. It matched the length and color of someone they fought with recently. "I'm positive this belongs to one of those we fought and then interrogated."

"It appears that there are no more there," Sasuke threw out. He stretched his arms and then continued. "I've already sent word to the Hokage that it's abandoned and secured. We found a bingo book of their own." He held up a brown tattered book. A bookmark hung loosely between the pages.

"A bingo book?" Naruto asked. "Who's in it?"

"Well," Sasuke hesitated. His eyes watched everyone for a moment before actually answering the question. Sakura looked at the ground, no doubt that they would all be in it. "It seems like Sakura, Naruto, Sai and myself are in this. Tsunade-sama and all the ANBU members are in this as well. We believe the only reason your not in it Kakashi is that you haven't been on active ANBU duty for a long time. I bet you would've ended up in this as soon as it was listed that you're back in the ANBU."

"What's this all mean? Even I'm in there! I'm not an ANBU member though," Naruto rambled on. He seemed to actually be thinking. "I'm not getting this. Their after all the important people and the strong players. What's that mean?"

"With all the shinobi out on missions it's easy for other countries to collaborate with one another and pick off the better of our ninja," Sakura filled him in. "Leaving our village leaderless, and defenseless."

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment. Then he broke out into a smile. "Well they wont stand a chance if their all like that! They were easy! We'll be safe!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shook her head. _This idiot wants to be hokage someday huh? _"Naruto, what if this was just to lure some ninjas out to their playing grounds, which would be these outposts and the lost contact village. If that's the case they'll try to out number us, out power us and when we don't report in Tsunade-sama sends more shinobi. Soon we've nothing left and the village is defenseless!"

"So is someone starting a war then?" Naruto leaned forward like he was whispering a big secret. "That's what I'm getting from all this."

"Yes Naruto," Sasuke said before anyone. "It does appear that our theories come back to the idea that some group, organization, nation or nations maybe plotting our downfall. We'll send word to Tsunade-sama in the morning about these theories."

"Sounds like a plan," Kakashi's eye creased in the way that told them he was smiling. "Time for rest, who wants to do first rounds of watch duty?"

"Not it!" Naruto and Kakashi called out.

"I'll do it," Sakura raised her hand. She suppressed a yawn. "I'm not ready to go to sleep. I'll keep watch for first three hours then I'll wake someone else up to take my place." She stood up and stretched a bit.

"Wake me up," Sasuke stood up too. "I'll take watch after you."

"Sounds good," she smiled. She patted him on the shoulder with her good hand. Then she found a good tall tree, one with limbs that stretched out a ways. She could see a lot for miles around. From this position she could sense chakra, and movement.

She could tell her teammates were sleeping, she could tell when animals got close and then got scared of the snoring noise that Naruto made and ran off. It was peaceful. The night was alive, the stars clear and the moon visible clearly. It all looked painted. The way the moon shone on the camp. On the faces of the sleeping ninjas.

Sakura watched over them, but she also watched them. She'd count their breathing to pass the time, but she also watched Sasuke. More than once she thought she could see him open an eye and look at her. She decided to stop watching. _If he is really awake he's probably making sure that I'm watching everything like I'm supposed to._

The three hours seemed to fly by just like that.

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**It seems like it's been awhile since I last updated this... Sorry for that. Busy week. I'll try to get more done. Anyway I've been inspired my music. I like to listen to a playlist and hit shuffle and usually the music seems to match the mood. It helps in it's own way. I do believe the last chapter was a cliffhanger-ish ending. lol. So this didn't end with a cliffhanger. Yay for that!**

**Remember I like reviews. I hope you liked reading it, and thanks for reading it. Until next time. Byz.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**This chapter is shorter but it's mostly a filler. Next chapter will be longer, I promise.**

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Cherry Blossoms

7

Sakura wasn't caught by surprise like Sasuke had almost hoped to see when he popped up in a branch next to her to relieve her of her duty. "Hey Sasuke." He thought he had been silent, in fact he was sure he had been. She smiled at his name. _How did she know?_

"I could sense your chakra," she seemed to have read his mind. "I've been focusing on chakra changes almost all night. Nothing's even stirred. But still, be on guard." She turned to get down but Sasuke held her arm.  
"Thanks," he said. He kind of surprised himself there. How wondered briefly how she'd react to this little slip of his tongue.

"Don't mention it," she slipped away with a smile. He didn't hear her leave the tree, or land but he knew she was safely on the ground. Safely falling asleep in her bedroll.

Sasuke sat in the tree watching everything like a hawk. For three hours little sounds would make him react. An owl landed in a tree across the clearing and he flung a kunai towards it. The owl dropped from the branch in a hurry but he was satisfied there was nothing more.

A lot was on Sasuke's mind. He couldn't seem to focus on hundred percent. If he had been focusing intently he would've known that the owl was just an owl perching on the branch._ I have to rebuild the clan,_ he thought. _I'm getting to that age where I can take a bride. I've got it down to two, Ino and Sakura. That chat with Ino was okay, but it was all one-sided. I wonder..._

By the time he dropped down to wake Sai up the sun was starting to light up the sky on the edge of the trees off to the east. Sasuke had glanced at Sakura's sleeping figure under the blanket and he went to his bedroll to sleep a few extra hours.

Kakashi had all his sleeping stuff rolled together and he started to make a fire. Naruto happened to wake before Sasuke and Sakura and Sai was hunting for breakfast. Naruto started to put his stuff away but he tripped over the string he was tying his bedroll together with. He landed with a thud. Sasuke awoke but Sakura still slept.

"Careful Naruto," Kakashi warned. "There are still sleeping ninjas. Sakura needs her rest." he pulled out some bacon and Sai dropped by with a bag of meat. Kakashi didn't mention Sasuke because Sakura was the one with the deadly punch.

"Ah, you caught and already skinned something," Kakashi began to cook the meat and Naruto made a face. He wanted ramen but Kakashi would argue with him. Nobody thought ramen was proper for a shinobi.

Sakura felt shaking later. She wanted to sleep longer but she knew that being on a mission didn't mean getting the best sleep or getting much sleep at all. She felt much more rested than she thought she would be though.

"Yum what is cooking Kakashi?" she smiled and stretched as she got up. "That would be bacon and deer. We also have some sprouts and a can of beans."

Sakura stopped stretching to make a face at the sound of eating deer. She couldn't complain. When on a mission you ate what you could. She gathered her bedroll together and sat down for breakfast with everyone. "So what's the plan for today's journey into the village?"

everyone looked expectantly to Kakashi. "I'd say we'll split up into two teams. One team enter from the west side the other enter from the west. We have the radios to communicate so we'll hook that up and separate."

"Whose on what team?" everyone asked.

"Sakura with Sasuke, and I will go with Sai and Naruto," Kakashi set up. "Sakura and Sasuke go to the east entrance of the village and report anything you find. Even what you don't find."

"Even what you don't find? What's that supposed to mean Kakashi?" Naruto simply.

"Naruto," Sakura sighed. "How did you become a jounin?"

"Wait," Naruto held up a hand to stop their explanations. "Let me think."

They waited for his conclusion. "By what you don't find does that mean the village is safe?"

"Not quite but that's probably your best thought so far Naruto," Kakashi patted him on the back. Naruto looked slightly confused.

"If you don't find anyone Naruto how is the village safe?" Sakura gave him something to think about.

He stuck his index finger in the air, "I got it! If we don't find anyone we'll have to investigate further to understand what is going on." He smiled like he knew everything and Sakura shook her head slightly, it amused her. Sasuke grumbled something under his breathe that Sai heard and threw out an "Exactly."

"We going to separate right away or once we get close to the village?" Sai said once the silence seemed to grow. "We'll need to find a rendezvous point."

"Agreed," Sasuke answered for Sakura as well. "Center of the village may not be the best, it's to predictable."

"Right," Kakashi agreed. Sai unfolded the map they swiped when they scouted the other outpost. "There's a fountain in front their hospital, let's meet there. Then we can all investigate the hospital. Sakura maybe needed in this village a lot or not at all."

Sakura nodded. If someone was hurt she'd be there as fast as she could. At the mention of her healing abilities all eyes went to her hurt hand. Even she looked at it. "I-I healed it more this morning. Now it's just sore." She took the bandage and unwrapped the hand. It was a heavy pink line that looked like it was slightly red in the middle. It was sore to the touch but she could handle it.

"Since we've got that down why not split into groups now and head off to the village now," Kakashi suggested. "Sasuke, Sai has memorized the map so you take the map for you and Sakura. Sai will guide us from memory. You did draw it right Sai?"

"Yes," he held up a scroll. "I got the important details drawn."

"Then lets get this started!" Naruto jumped up and he held his hand out for a team huddle. He was excited and when no one moved their hands he got impatient. "Oh come on guys! For luck?" Sakura rolled her eyes and put her hand on his. Everyone hesitated but then piled on a hand and then the went their separate ways.

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**Well school is coming to an end for me and with summer I will have plenty of time to update. I'm excited for the end of school. I'm graduating so I'm done with high school forever. Good luck to fellow students on finals! Thanks for reading as always and reviews are welcomed.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: There is nothing about the Anime/Manga of Naruto that I could ever hope to own. Here is chapter 8, enjoy, and remember to review. : )**

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Cherry Blossoms

8

**Sasuke and Sakura**

Sakura traveled at Sasuke's side. They lept from branch to branch. Each time he would slow for her if she was lagging for some reason. She thought of it as him being considerate and he thought of it as teamwork.

Sasuke stopped suddenly and stuck his arm out to stop Sakura from moving more. They had approached the village. The village was very silent and still. Sakura eyed the fountain they had in the center of the quarter. It was dry. Sasuke had his hand on his sword and yet Sakura felt no need to pull out a weapon.

"Sasuke," she said quietly to play along. "There's no one here."

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"I would be able to sense their chakra if there was," she assured him. The sun was on the rise and the village had chickens in a coop near the back where they stood. Sakura had already passed Sasuke and searched the first building available.

"Is that the fountain we were supposed to meet by?" Sakura asked. She had pushed open a door and let out a surprised squeak. Sasuke was already by her side and holding his sword at a little girls neck. He removed it when he realized she was no threat. Sakura was already down to her knees cleaning the blood and healing the cuts.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

The girl continued to stare blankly at the wall. She wasn't crying nor was she showing any emotion really. "Little girl!" Sasuke had raised his voice. "What happened here?"

"Sasuke!" Sakura gave him a look like 'leave the poor girl be already' and he ignored it. She went back to wrapping the girl's arm when she stopped. "Sasuke where are we?"

"What do you mean?" he seemed confused by her question. Sakura stood up.

"That fountain," she pointed to it. "That's at the center of the village in front of the hospital. Wheres the hospital? How did we get to the center without going through the actual village? This is genjutsu."

"No it's not," he countered. Sakura threw him a punch and he vaporized.

"Crap. Sasuke! It's genjutsu!" She screamed. She tried to be loud as if to reach him through the air currents. She stopped and focused on a small hole in the wall.

Sasuke was in his own horror. There was this little boy that mirrored him. He looked frightened and almost like Sasuke was going to kill him, yet he had a crazed look about him like he wanted to kill Sasuke. The bodies all around him looked like his family and even with the same little Uchiha symbol on the backs.

Sasuke moved closer and the boy looked even more ready to kill him.

"Why?" the boy screamed. "Why would you do this?"

"I needed to test my capabilities," a familiar voice rang out, it was his brothers words, but they came from him. Sasuke touched his lips. He could not honestly be saying the same words as _him_. He looked up to really look the little Sasuke before him. In his eyes he could see the morphed image o Itachi and himself. Sasuke actually remembered something about his brother from this very experience. Something Sasuke had pushed from his mind long ago. Here a single tear had made it's way down his cheek. He turned and the boy screamed, just like he had.

He closed his eyes and tried to walk away but he was so still. He clenched his hands into fists and waited. He tried to think of anything but this.

He felt a tug on his hand and things felt less bleak. A warm hand surrounded his and a familiar voice spoke. "Sasuke. It was a genjutsu trick." Her hand was warm when it wiped away that little tear it had found. He opened his eyes to see it was true. They hadn't even entered the village yet.

"Did you get stuck too?" he tried to divert her attention.

"For a moment," she replied. "It was the fountain as we entered that sent flags off for me."

He looked at the path they had been on. The village was in sight.

"Sasuke," Sakura still had her hand holding his. He tugged to free it but she held on. "Sasuke what did you see?"

"None of your business," he said coldly. He thought it was best not to tell her. It would worry her or worse make her feel sorry for him.

"Fine," she sighed. "Let's just get going." She let go of his hand and was gone before he even knew it. "I can sense people. Lots of them. We have to hurry."

Sasuke ran to keep up with her and he could hear the sounds of fighting in the distance.

**Naruto, Sai and Kakashi**

"Hmm," Naruto thought out loud. "This is odd, there's no one here."

"Odd indeed," Sai agreed. He examined two matching dragon statues at their entrance to the village. "These are commonly used to ward off evil. But these are rigged to let someone know if there are visitors."

"A trap or just an alarm system?" Naruto asked.

"Just an alarm system," Sai evaluated. Before he could disarm the alarm Naruto was poking one of the statues and the eyes glowed red and his left foot was caught by a rope trap. He was left to hang from a tree hanging over the entrance.

Kakashi laughed for a moment before being serious, "Naruto we have to be serious here. This is important."

"It's not my fault Kakashi!" Naruto yelled as he cut himself down.

"Actually it is-" Kakashi stopped to dodged a giant shuriken flying towards him. Sai had his short sword held up to parry any flying weapons. Naruto held onto his kunai and Kakashi pulled out his own kunai. "Be alert."

Sai and Naruto nodded. As if the nod was a trigger a swarm of kunai and shuriken flew towards them and they had to dodge and parry to the best of their ability until it ended. Each had some wound.

"Head inwards toward the fountain!" Kakashi ordered. "We need Sakura!"

It was only a moment or so later they found their opponent.

At the heart of the village the fountain, which Sakura had saw, was dry. Standing upon it was none other than Kisame of the Akatsuki. His smirk of a smile exposed his shark teeth. His eyes bore into them. "Well well well, three little ninjas came to check on this little village."

"An Akatsuki member!" Naruto gasped. He pointed out the obvious and soon a fight ensue. Naruto had rushed into a fight and it started before anything could be asked. They all wondered where this lone Akatsuki members partner was. They all knew it would stir trouble for Sasuke if they stumbled across_ him_.

"Where is he?" Kakashi asked in the heat of battle. He had been dodging the swings of the Samehade sword Kisame wielded.

"Who?" Kisame messed with Kakashi. He felt the need to pester him with words besides his sword until Kakashi evaded the blade once more and planted a kick to the face. Naruto and Sai were fighting Kisame's clones. Soon enough when Kakashi turned around he found his only team members were stuck in a water prison.

The sword tore through everything Kakashi threw at him. His kunai were smashed, his shuriken eaten by the sword and he didn't dare touch it. It wasn't long until he was trapped as well.

"Damn your clones sneaking behind me with that water prison technique," Naruto said. He left a trail of bubbles and no one could understand him but he said it anyway.

Sai rolled his eyes at Naruto and Kakashi tried to break free.

"Just let Itachi finish with his fun and you'll be finished easily enough," Kisame mocked.

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**Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Forgive me please. Here I graduated and I'm working on getting myself a job, but I got an awesome laptop which I finally have written a chapter on. I promise to finish this story. Updates won't take this long anymore I promise. Remember reviews are welcomed. I kind of rushed this chapter. Next one will be better I swear.**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's been way to long since I last updated this story. For that I apologize. Life has just been happening. There are other stories I want to write. However I'd like to finish this story as well. If you couldn't tell from the last chapter this plotline is different from what actually happens. I know Sasuke and Itachi fight, and honestly even though I saw the episode I don't think I could write a battle scene that would do justice to the actual fight. So really it's left up to you to image the fight.**

**Like I always say, I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. **

**Read, Enjoy, and Review.**

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Cherry Blossoms

**9**

**Sasuke and Sakura**

Sakura wasted no time running through the empty streets. Sasuke was right behind her, he would momentarily glance from one side street to another. At one point he thought he caught a glimpse of his older brother. He slowed and ended up falling behind from his team mate. Sakura could feel his chakra as he stood still. He also wasn't alone.

Sasuke has to fight to stay calm. His temper, the hatred he felt for his brother was nearly raging out of control. "Itachi," he said sharply.

His brothers distant black eyes focused right on Sasuke's. "It's been awhile Sasuke."

Itachi gave a weak smile to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't hide the puzzled look. He waited for his brother to do something first. Sakura went back for Sasuke, she couldn't see what he was looking at. She moved closer, his ears twitched as though he heard her approach but he threw out no other hints that he knew she was coming.

"Sasuke?" Sakura looked down the dark side alley. She saw nothing but she could feel another presence. Red eyes opened for her to see. She didn't look. Itachi was in the Black Ops bingo book. One thing it had taught her was not to look in his eyes. It would trap her in a powerful genjutsu trap. She tugged lightly on Sasuke's jacket. "We need to get to the others."

Sasuke could hear her. _Where is Sakura? I can't move. I can't turn to see her_.

Sakura went to touch his shoulder, give him a jolt of chakra to release him. However, a kunai was thrown at top speed at her. She barely had the chance to dodge it. It was aimed at her hand. It had torn Sasuke's sleeve. Sakura could see a thin line of red.

"Sasuke!" she said louder. She went to touch him again and this time she parried the kunai with one of her own as Itachi threw it. "Forgive me, Sasuke."

She engulfed the kunai and threw it at him, she threw a second to parry the one Itachi would throw, however he was much quicker than she expected. He threw three. The extra stuck in her hand. The same hand she already had a weapon go through. Sakura didn't scream. She was sweating slightly.

"Your to weak," he said. "To weak to save him. Just give up." his eyes were still red. Sakura clenched her free hand into a fist. Her hair obscuring any of Itachi's view of her face. Her eyes let tears slide down her cheek. She hated this.

Sakura stood tall, wiping her tears. She pulled the kunai from her hand. She walked to Sasuke, she laid her hand on his shoulder and she stood in front of him taking the shower of kunai and shuriken to awaken him.

His eyes widened. She slumped a little and a thin line of blood left her mouth. She smiled weakly and began to sit. He took a a sword of his own out. His eyes were a similar red. His eyes weren't as frightening to her. Just like that day during the chunin exams. She had done her best to protect him. Now that he was awake he would finish it. Just like then. It frightened her but he was stronger now, she had faith that he would succeed, and that he would control his anger.

All she could see was the main road she had just come back from. She focused her chakra to push out the kunai and shuriken, healing along the way. It was complicated. She pulled some out of her legs and arms and she waited for the healing sensation of the chakra. When she was well enough she took off. She left behind the sounds of metal colliding, the sounds of people fighting, someone was thrown to the ground. This wasn't her fight, she knew that. As much as Sakura had always loved Sasuke she wouldn't dare get in his way when it came to this.

She would have to find the others as quick as possible. She let her feet carry her to the meeting place.

**Kakashi, Sai and Naruto**

Kisame had just said something about Itachi having his fun when Naruto tried to move. The water prison was one that sucked on one's chakra. It was a slow draining process though. Everyone turned their heads when they heard fast footsteps approaching. Alone. A flash of pink charged at the Kisame water clone holding Kakashi captive. Naruto muttered her name but only bubbles came out.

Kisame slashed a clone of his sword at her and she disappeared. A log taking her place.

"Substitution?" he nearly laughed. Something, a flash of pink flew up from below the ground upper cutting the clone, breaking his prison jutsu. He was getting down to business.

Kakashi stood on his legs and lowered part of his mask. His scar caught Sakura's eyes. She had only ever seen the other eye once or twice. The memory was strongest of when they fought Zabuza. Sakura took a moment to think strategically about how she was going to free the other two.

Kakashi began fighting the real Kisame. His battle was more like a battle of ninjustu. His chakra level was no where near Kisame's though.

Sakura pulled out a scroll, she pricked her finger and used the summoning jutsu to summon an ax. It had a long handle. It had intricate designs on the hilt. Engraved in one side of the blade was a picture of a cherry blossom tree. She made another clone. She couldn't make many but she needed at least one more. Kakashi needed help and she couldn't leave them trapped. Her clone had a matching ax. Both swung at Kisame. The one behind aimed high and the one before him aimed low. He took a kunai out quickly and caught the clone from behind while jumping over the real Sakura's ax. Sakura smiled, the ax was a heavy weapon, it took her with it and she used it's momentum to deliver a kick to the chest to Kisame.

His clone vanished and Sakura released her's. Sai was free and Kakashi had back up. Sakura could hear the thunder behind her, it was near where she had left Sasuke. Huge amounts of fire blew up into the sky. Their battle was definitely heated. Sakura thought about going to watch over her teammate.

"Sakura!" the sound of Naruto's voice brought her back to the present. She didn't have time to dodge the unwrapped portion of the Samehade sword Kisame wielded. She could only move fast enough to take some of the blow. She flew backwards. Her arm was raw and torn. She was bleeding a lot. Sakura almost felt like laughing, she was always in these situation.

She got up and ignored the horrible pain in her arm. Her right hand was engulfing in the blue light of her chakra. She raised her fist. Her teammates, all were free, jumped back. They knew Sakura well enough to know the power her punch could pack. Her fist hit the ground. Kisame had still been standing on the ground, trying to keep himself from being burnt from Kakashi's fireball jutsu. Kakashi had aimed it down at him. The ground crumbled around Sakura and all around Kisame's feet. He lost his balance for a moment.

Sakura picked up the ax she had summon. She took all her chakra and threw it at him. She couldn't tell if she hit her mark or not. She lost consciousness. The blood loss, the chakra loss, it left her utterly exhausted. However she wanted nothing more than to be awake. To know what was going on. She had to help.

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**I know Sasuke and Itachi fight, and honestly even though I saw the episode I don't think I could write a battle scene that would do justice to the actual fight. So really it's left up to you to image the fight**. **Thanks for reading, and reviewing is appreciated. **


	10. Chapter 10

**I posted another chapter in a day! It's some kind of miracle. **

**As always, I don't own Naruto, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. **

**Read, Enjoy, Review.**

* * *

Cherry Blossoms

**10**

**Sasuke and Sakura**

**Sakura's Point of View**

I'm not sure what part of my body and it's agonizing pain I felt first. My left arm was gross, and felt like hamburger. The sword had shredded into my skin and even through muscle. That was terrible burning agony. My back also stung, all those small wounds I had tried to heal opened. My head felt like it was going to explode. Not to mention the buzzing in my ears. Every muscle hurt.

I didn't open my eyes. Everything felt heavy, my eyes stayed shut for a moment. I didn't feel any vibrations. The fighting must have ended. I couldn't feel the warmth of a campfire either, we could still be under attack and I'm still out. They may need me.

"She's awake," I heard a boy's voice. Something grabbed my hair. My eyes flew open now. The boy who spoke held a kunai, probably one of my own, to my throat.

"You and your team have destroyed our village!" another boy stood before me, his finger pointed right at me. "You ninja bring nothing but trouble!" His finger got closer to my face.

"We came to help," I tried to speak. The boy holding my hair pulled harder. Like it was possible to be in anymore pain. My throat was hoarse. I knew I wouldn't be able to fight them off. I'd lost so much blood, so much of my chakra, my energy was spent.

"Your help is burning my village to ashes!" the boy spit in my face.

"Should we kill her brother?" the one holding me asked. Anticipation edged into his voice. "We could drown her and dump her body in the river. Her teammates will never know."

"Good idea," the one in front replied. "Drown her. Make her suffer."

"Wait! No!" I tried to struggle, to fight. These kids were making a mistake. "I'm a medical ninja! I can help the injured!"

"No offense lady," the one who walked me to the stream said. "You can barely fight off a kid your so tired, I doubt there is much you can do to help our village anymore."

"This solves nothing!" I shouted at last. I was so tired. My head was dunked under the water within seconds. I tried not to panic, panicking would make my body burn twice as much oxygen. I couldn't help that my heart rate was rising. I tried to use my good arm to push myself up. I only sunk it into mud. The kid could feel my struggles. He shoved my head deeper down until my face was pushed into the mud as well. Now I was fully panicking whether or not I was trying not too.

All I could wonder was about them. Where was Sasuke? Kakashi? Sai? Naruto? Were they safe? The kids said the village was burning. Did that me Sasuke failed and Itachi and Kisame were burning the village? Maybe Sasuke won but he and the rest couldn't keep the fire under control. I wished, briefly, that I could have another chance to prove to them I wasn't weak. I wouldn't even get to know it I had hit Kisame.

The hand let go of my hair. I couldn't get myself out. I had no idea if they thought I was dead and would let me drift away on my own. Maybe they had come to their senses. Maybe they decided to stop. Nothing gripped my arm to pull me up. My lungs burned so much. My brain began to grow less and less conscious.

It hit me. I was going to die.

**Sasuke's Point of View**

Finally, winding my way through what was left I came across the fountain. Sakura had taken off. I'd have to thank her someday for not interfering. She was probably worried sick. I pushed past screaming people. I wondered what had them running and that's when I saw the flames.

The flames had engulfed nearly half of the small village. The tiny houses and shops where everyone had been hiding now was a death trap. I know it was my fault. Itachi had dodged one of my attacks and we began to try to fight using the fireball jutsu. Team 7 was here amongst the chaos. I just had to find them and help the villagers.

I had pulled a few people from the rubble of buildings when I heard Naruto shouting to Kakashi.

"What about Sakura!" his voice bounced above all the other noise.

"We'll get her when we can," he said. "Their are villagers that need our help. We have to evacuate them to the hospital Naruto. Sakura isn't near the fire or houses is she?"

My eyes scanned the square where the fountain was. Sakura was lying on the ground between a house and the broken fountain. She looked horribly beaten up. Her left arm looked like half of it had been taken off. She wasn't dead was she? Why hadn't they helped her? She's important too. Pushing my way through the crowd I tried to cross until I felt a tug on my sleeve.

"Please! Help my baby! She's trapped in the cellar! The house fell and we were in the cellar hiding. I squeezed out but I cant get her! Help me!" The woman's begging got me to follow her.

I had very little chakra left. What I did have I used a water jutsu to put out the fire. I had to pull huge beams off until I could get to the cellar's door. "Can you get her from here?" I panted. When she nodded I took off to find the rest of Team 7. I got back to the square to see Naruto practically freaking out.

"God she's not here anymore! She collapsed she shouldn't be able to get away that quickly! I only left her for a few minutes, where could she go? I don't even know what happened to Sasuke," he turned a few times until he saw me approach. "Sasuke! Your alive!"

"Of course," I gave him a hard pat on the back for sounding surprised. "Where's Sakura?"

His face went from happy to scared, "I was going to ask you."

I took off running. I'm not as good as Sakura when it comes to sensing chakra, but times call for some sharper skills so I focused my senses on what I remember of Sakura's chakra. I got only a tiny hint of it. It was farther away than I imagined.

I had found the trace by the stream. I heard the water splash and a boy laugh.

"They shouldn't have interfered," the taller of the two said. I couldn't see her but I watched for a moment. "If she's a healer then she's important, they'll feel our loss when they find her dead."

I stepped deeper into the shadows. I came right up on the one nearest to the stream. He held Sakura's pink hair down. My kunai touched the tip of his throat, not softly might I add.

"Let her go or I'll cut your throat," I demanded. I could feel him swallow down the fear. His hand let her go.

"No! Stop!" the other reached for his friend.

"Don't push me kid," I took the kunai away. "Get out of here. Don't expect help from us again."

They scrambled away and my eyes didn't see much movement from Sakura. I pulled her out and laid her on the soft cool grass. I put my ear to her chest and I could hear the beating of her heart. It was faint but there. Her face was covered in mud. I wiped away as much of it as I could.

I tried not to panic, if I did I might forget CPR. I tilted her head the way I had been taught, I pushed on the spot they told me too. Seconds later water was spewing from her mouth.

**Sakura's Point of View**

I thought I was a goner. I felt another pressure now, on my chest. Only it wasn't constant. It was there then it wasn't then it was and then it wasn't. I didn't get it until the water came up. It was CPR. Being a medical ninja you'd think I'd recognize something so basic and lifesaving.

The water left my throat raw. My eyes felt gritty from the mud. I felt hands on both sides of my face. My eyes didn't open. The fingers and palms were so warm. I felt cold. I could feel the dirt and mud on my skin and it was between the warm hands. My right hand came up to touch the warm hand. I remember that hand was muddy too.

My hand didn't make it far. It trembled and fell. My eyes burned from the dirt and mud on my face. The next thing I knew I was feeling the warm breath of whomever the hands belonged to. I wondered why they were so close. My eyes were started to feel slightly lighter.

That's when I felt his warm lips touch my cold ones. Like he was trying to breath life into a cold beat up doll that happened to have a heart beat. It was a sweet kiss, and afterwords they held me closer into a hug, nearly crushing what was left of my body. My eyes opened to see the black hair I knew was Sasuke's. I thought I was going to die of happiness. I found the energy to bring my good arm up around his neck. It trembled a little from exhaustion, but I was still able to hug him back.

"Sasuke," I tried to say. I'm not sure it even came out. "You came back."

"Hn," I could feel the side of his face turn into a smile.

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**I actually didn't plan on them kissing yet but it was set up so beautifully for it. :3 I couldn't help it. School doesn't start for awhile yet and I don't work this weekend so there will probably be more updates. I feel like writing a ton right now. Hopefully in finishing this I'll have another series completed. That's my greatest weakness. I never finish what I start, but it won't be for long. **

**Thanks for reading, don't forget to review. See ya next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto... Not by me... Sadly.**

**Here's chapter 11 of Cherry Blossoms. Read, Enjoy, Review.**

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Cherry Blossoms

**11**

**Sakura's Point of View**

Sasuke had to carry me to the hospital where everyone was to evacuate from the fire. It was a piggyback ride. My good arm slung over his shoulder to keep my balance, my head lay on his other shoulder.

"You shouldn't have to always rescue me," I mumbled.

"You did just fine on your own until the end there," Sasuke said to me. "Your saving our necks nowadays."

I smiled at this. Before I knew it we were at that hospital. He sat me on the counter of the hospital. So many were laid out injured. He left to talk to Kakashi and I couldn't stand to not help.

I found some kind of strength in me to get to the nearest villager who needed assistance. His leg was broken badly. His wife cried over him. She asked me if I could help. Once she saw my arm she apologized.

"Ma'am," I spoke up. "I'm a medical ninja. I can help."

"What can I do to help?"

Looking at his leg I could see the bone protruding from his leg. "I have to set his leg, or it wont heal and it could clot."

I set myself on his leg, to keep him from moving, not sitting to where it would hurt him. I looked at the woman and she held onto his arms. I nodded and she applied more pressure to keep him there.

I pushed the born down into it's right place. The man screamed and he fought her. The hospital was silent except for his screams for a moment. The bone was in place and I asked her to find something suitable for a splint.

"Anything straight and long enough, it has to be strong too," I explained. She rushed off tossing a few thank yous my way. I put my one good arm up to his leg. I tried to use whatever chakra was left to at least make sure it would clot or bleed to much. She came back with a plank of wood from the walls. Apparently others had torn them off to use as splints on others. I bandaged the splint to his leg as tightly as I could. My fingers couldn't tie it one handed though. I fumbled with the bandages. Biting my lip in frustration. I began to sweat from it.

Gentle hands took my one hand's place. He tied it into a knot tightly. Sasuke had another set of bandages for my arm. "Turn around," I moved to give him my left arm. "You need some medical attention too."

"They need help more," I pointed to a girl with a burn on her arm and shoulder. "Bandage her."

"Sakura," he said my name firmly. "Don't argue with me."

He gentle wrapped my arm. He tied the bandage tightly, I winced and he apologized quietly.

"Maybe you should report in to Kakashi," he looked at me with those obsidian eyes I love so much. "You might want to know what happened."

**Sasuke's Point of View**

I helped her stand. I watched her walk, more like limp, to where the rest of Team 7 stood. We as her teammates always admired how strong she had become. Here she is with her own injury but what is she doing? Setting someone's bone one handed. Something about the focused look in her eye, the way she finds just a little more chakra to pour out into them. Her pink hair is dirty from the mud.

I know how I felt when I held the kunai to the kid's throat. Honestly it was just like it was in the chunin exams in that damn forest. She's sticking her neck out for us and get hurt. I broke the sound ninja's arms. I wanted to stick the kunai in his throat. But it also reminded me of how she stopped me before. She hugged me, clung onto me and cried, begged me to stop.

It was that memory that kept those village boys alive. They were at least fourteen. If Sakura had been healthy, strong and rested they wouldn't have had a chance. Her punches could pack a lot of strength behind them.

I watched her reactions and listened to what they were telling her.

"You totally came to our rescue Sakura!" Naruto said. "It was so awesome the way you freed Kakashi and then Sai. Why didn't you help me first?"

Sakura shrugged, "Kakashi is our team leader, he should be rescued first." her jade eyes smiled. "Did my ax even hit him?"

They all smiled, well, you couldn't see Kakashi's but they way his eye changed you could tell he was smiling too.

"Did I?" she looked so hopeful.

"You cut the fingers that held onto his own sword," Sai said. "Gave us the distraction to take him out."

The smile that came up on her face made them all laugh.

"You all right Sakura?" Sai asked. "You took a big hit from that sword. Looked gruesome."

"It is," she nodded in agreement." I'll have to visit Tsunade when we get back. I believe once the fire is under control we've completely out mission, right?"

"Yes," I stepped up to the group that is my team. "I'm not sure how it's going to die down unless they could see the smoke from there. Maybe they'd send someone."

"Sai," Kakashi turned to him to give orders. "Head back to that station we gained control of recently. Send a message to Tsunade that the village is secure but burning. They will need supplies and more healers, then maybe we can go home when the reinforcements arrive."

Sai nodded and was off in a flash.

"Man I could use a bowl of ramen now," Naruto sighed. "That fight took it out of me."

Sakura burst out laughing.

"What?" Naruto looked confused. "What's funny?"

"I do believe Naruto that it seems you don't change some things," Sakura pointed out.

"I do to," he countered. "I don't eat as much ramen as I use to."

"The point is you still do eat it after a mission, Naruto," I pointed out.

**Three Days Later**

Sakura slept peacefully in the hospital bed in the Konoha Hospital. She was under the best care. Tsunade had dealt with her arm and the many little wounds on her back. Sakura almost looked like she had never gone on the missions with them. Sasuke had come to check on her a few times. It was always while she was sleeping. It was something that he liked. If he would enter and she would be awake he'd be afraid of what to say.

Honestly Sasuke was afraid of explaining about why he'd kissed her. She had taken it much better than he imagined. She didn't tell everyone she knew about it. In fact she didn't say anything to Sasuke about it. He couldn't exactly turn it into words why he had kissed her. Only that he did.

He entered the room and placed a red tulip into the glass next to the one he brought the day before. Ino had brought Sakura some clothes for when she was awake and ready to go home. Naruto had left a note promising to buy ramen sometime. Sai had drawn a picture of her with her ax, it had caught the expression of hope in her eyes as she practically willed the ax to hit him. The room wasn't so bare. There were cards and pictures brought from home. The walls seemed bright white in her room.

Her eyes moved beneath the lids. Sasuke turned to high tail it out of there. He bumped into Tsunade and she nearly dropped the clipboard in her hand.

"Sasuke," she smiled. "I'd like to speak with you. Outside."

He followed her, hopefully, he thought, she wouldn't say something bad.

"Sasuke," she said lightly, like she was walking a thin line. "Now that your brother is gone Your truly the last Uchiha. You do plan on continuing the family line right?"

Sasuke's expression lightened considerably. She was afraid to upset him about his brother. He sat down on a nearby bench and she still stood.

"The Sharigan is a valuable gift, it shouldn't end with you Sasuke," Tsunade paced a little now. "There is some pressure from a lot of old families. They keep asking me, me, to arrange a marriage or something. There's not much I can do except tell them you intend to continue the Uchiha name. If that is what you want to do."

"I fully intend to rebuild the Uchiha family," Sasuke stated. "You can tell them that."

"They would like to see you married within a years time," Tsunade added quickly. "Their a bit argumentative on the subject of time. If your not even remotely interested in a someone within a years time their probably going to offer you what they can to get you marry their daughters."

"Hn," Sasuke closed his eyes. It seemed like he had more pressure on him now that Itachi was gone. He truly is the last Uchiha. Sasuke opened his eyes when he heard someone's approaching steps. He caught sight of the red tulips he brought Sakura and he knew she was awake and well.

Sakura smiled and sat on the bench beside him.

"How did you know?" he gestured to the flowers. "I didn't think you'd know it was me who left them."

"I didn't," Sakura laughed. Sasuke's face went white. "I was walking around with them and I saw you talking to Tsunade. I thought I'd say thanks. Now I have another thing to thank you for."

Sasuke looked at his feet for a moment, "You don't need to thank me Sakura. It's what team mates do, helping each other out. Speaking of which-"

"You could have killed them Sasuke," her toned had changed. She was serious. "I thought you would have. It reminded me of that day in the forest during the chunin exams. I was left to defend you and Naruto but as soon as you woke up and saw me so beat up you nearly ripped the sound ninja's arms off. I was afraid you would kill those two boys."

"I should have," Sasuke's tone was equally serious with more anger to it. "They have no idea how we've helped them."

"We also damaged their village as well," Sakura stated. "I over heard Tsunade talking to Shizune about the cost of rebuilding their village and how she'd never be able to drink again."

"I'm sorry my fight with Itachi got out of hand," Sasuke apologized like it would solve everything. "It's hard to believe it really. About Itachi."

"What is?" Sakura was like a fish nibbling at the bait.

"I was told the 'truth' about Itachi," Sasuke's eyes seemed hard for Sakura to read. He sounded like he didn't believe it but his eyes seemed like they might betray his most inner feelings. Like maybe he was beginning to see the truth of it.

"You don't have to talk about it," Sakura looked at the flowers in her hand.

"I kind of want to," Sasuke replied after a moment. "Maybe it will clear some things up for me."

"Sasuke," Sakura looked at him. "You never used to want to tell anyone these things. Any insight into your life was never brought up. If I'd ask you back then about Itachi you would have bitten my head off."

Sasuke let a small smile escape his lips. Sasuke told Sakura everything he had been told. She soaked everything up silently. She didn't look at him, and he was grateful. When he was done explaining he asked her a simple question, "Do you believe it?"

"I think I do," she said. Her jade eyes finally looking Sasuke in the eyes. "The question is, Sasuke, do _you_?"

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**So here I introduced the 'truth' about Itachi. I introduced it without really giving it away. Clever, eh? :3**

**However I don't mean to give out spoilers for those who aren't up to date with the anime/manga. So sorry if I ruined anything for ya. Thanks for readings! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Naruto is the propery of Masashi Kishimoto. Not I. **

**If you've read enough of my stuff then you should get this. R,E,R.**

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**Cherry Blossoms**

**12**

**Sasuke's Point of View**

_"Do you believe it?" is what I asked her._

_"I think I do," she said. Her jade eyes finally looking Sasuke in the eyes. "The question is, Sasuke, do you?"_

How could she ask me that? I've tried to find some point of where I can believe something. I tried to think back to times when we were all younger. What was he like then? What was I like then? If I knew then what I know now, would I believe it like Sakura?

I had gone home and so had Sakura. She was recovering well from what I heard from conversations between Naruto and Kakashi. Occasionally I catch them talking about her being the hero, and it's true. While I was off battling my demons, here she is saving the rest of our team's butt. It's incredible how much we've grown.

Cleaning the ANBU mask I was given I try to think clearly. The house is so empty. What will it be like in a few years? Where will we all be then? How much will change and how much will we grow by then? It's all that's on my mind.

I try to ask myself if it's worth it to restore the clan. It was his wish, if it is true. If it is true it also means that the village is to blame. Then what do I do? I do remember Kakashi saying something once to me. It makes sense, it really does.

_"The thing about revenge, Sasuke, is that even once you get it your still left with nothing," Kakashi tried to drill the sense into my head._

There's so many what ifs. So who can I turn to? Who can I talk to? Who is there to talk to about something like this?

There's a light knock at the door, I set the cleaning towel down and the mask. I unlock the front door and swing it open. It's a man I've never seen before.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he said looking me up and down.

"Uh, yes?" it came out more like a question.

"I'd like to speak business with you," he said friendly.

"Come in," I opened the door further. Maybe he needed a mission. He sat down in the living room after he had taken his shoes off. I sat opposite of him. "So, what business brings you here?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," he said my name once more. "I've heard from Tsunade that you plan to restore your once prosperous clan."

"..." my initial shock left me silent. "Is this the business you want to chat about?"

"Yes," he answered, he thought I sounded interested. "My youngest daughter is about two years older than you, she's very willing to help out with the restoration of your clan. I would gladly arrange a marriage between you. Her name is Hanako."

He pulled out a picture of a girl sitting in a field of flowers, the picture looked professional.

"Uh," I tried to stop him but he continued.

"My family owns many prestigious companies within the village, I would love for you to become apart of that, or my family could help out with the police force, after the massacre many of our police forces died because they were of Uchiha blood-"

"Please leave," I said as nicely as I could. "I don't plan to marry for business reasons. When I restore my clan I plan to find someone I love as well."

"You could fall in love with her," he protested. "Many arranged marriages end with love."

"I asked you to leave," I got up and he shot up.

"Alright, have it your way!" he left my house and I was left with more to think about. I guess I had somehow gotten my answer in my reaction.

_"When I restore my clan I plan to find someone I love as well." _

**Sakura's Point of View**

Was it reality when he kissed me? I hadn't brought it up to Sasuke for a very specific reason. What if in my crazy near dead state I had imagine that? What if he regretted it? I couldn't be sure and therefore I left it alone. Of course it so didn't help the fact that I had tried to get over him. Years of trying, years of actually accomplishing it, and the second he looks my way and it's all shot to hell. I got home from the hospital and it felt lonely. The plants were wilting and I began to water them. The kitchen was empty and I wanted to shop. I thought of making something like comfort food.

I ended up shopping for my regular groceries. The shop was nearly completely empty. It had to be some kind of coincidence that when looking through the frozen foods I heard someone speaking about Sasuke in the other aisle.

"So daddy," a girl sounded excited. "What did Sasuke say?"

"He got so upset by the offer," he sounded irritated. "I thought it was a good offer, I'm sorry Sweety. He said something about when he restored his clan he wanted to marry someone he loved."

I nearly dropped the basket of groceries.

_"I think I do," she said. My eyes finally meeting Sasuke's eyes. "The question is, Sasuke, do _you_?"_

_"Hn," he answered. "Maybe subconsciously I already know. But it isn't clear to me yet."_

_Sasuke got up from the bench and walked away. It didn't matter to me that he left me there. I was used to the loneliness. It gave me a chance to think. I sat there for nearly an hour, honestly trying to think the way he would. I came up with something but if it's right or wrong I can't know. I know what I hope he'll do, I know what he's capable of doing. _

_If he would decide to destroy Konoha would I be able to stop him? Would I be able to slay him in order to save the village. Not like I'd be alone but the fact is that if I was the last one standing, could I? Would I?_

"Sounds like he might already have his eye on a girl, Hanako," he added. I broke free from my thought to listen closer. "You not being a ninja might work against you, but he might already have his heart set on someone."

_Someone? Who?_

I brushed a hair back out of my eyes and rushed to check out. The girl was behind me and I could just feeling the irritation rolling off of her. I was her trigger. Turning around she followed me as her father paid.

"Hey," she said to me. I didn't turn right away. _Try to ignore her, really try. _""Hey pink haired freak!"

A vein just about popped out of my head at her comment, "What do you want?"

"Your one of Uchihas teammates right?" she cocked her head to the side like she was trying to be cute. _I'm immune to your so called charms girl._

"Yes, I am," I answered. She stepped forward and swung at me. I stepped aside and she swung again.

"Do you really want to pick a fight with a ninja?" I almost laughed at her.

"Stay away from him!" she yelled at me. "He's going to be my husband someday!"

"Like that will happen," I did laugh. "He isn't into fan girls."

"You used to be one!" she swung at me and even tried to kick at me. "Daddy will convince him! Daddy gets me whatever I want!"

"Hanako!" her father caught her wild fist. "What are you doing?"

"It's fine," I smiled friendly to make her mad. "It's not like she could land one on me."

I could see the vein popping out of her head, I turned and left her with her father. He was giving her a lecture about starting fights with shinobi and she was arguing that he had to get Sasuke to agree to marry her.

Dinner would be lonely, maybe I could ask a certain someone if he'd like dinner as well. Seeing as he has a big empty place of his own too.

**Hours later**

Sakura rushed around the kitchen. She was still wearing what she had on when she got home. It was simple, red off the shoulder shirt, black skirt and her black slippers. Her hair was up in a messy bun held together by chopsticks. It was something she wore all the time. Sasuke had thought dinner together would be nice.

How she had managed to get him to come over was beyond her. She set the plate down and nearly tripped trying to get the door which had been knocked on. She opened the door and she was slightly out of breath from the rushing, it didn't help her breathing when she looked at him. He had a nice simple white button down shirt and black pants. His dark eyes were kind looking and he had a smile on his face.

"Come in, come in," she opened the door further and gestured for him to step inside. He took his shoes off and put on the slippers, not the pink set available.

"I was trying to finish it," she laughed, but she felt a blush on her cheeks. "It's done now though."

"Good," he turned to smile. "I'm very hungry. I had a visitor that left me frustrated for awhile. I ended up training for a few hours and I haven't had anything to eat."

Sakura smiled. She sat down in her chair and he sat down in the other. It wasn't candlelit, nor was it fancy, but he was here and that was enough for her.

"Was it someone offering an arranged marriage?" Sakura took a bit an looked up to see his reaction.

"Yeah," he nibbled on some chicken. "How did you know?" His eyes were intent on hearing her answer.

"I went to the store and some girl named Hanako tried to attack me telling me that her father was going to arrange a marriage with Sasuke Uchiha so I must stay away from you," Sakura told him how the girl wasn't a ninja but she was bold to attack one. He agreed.

"Are you going to go along with an arranged marriage?" she asked from curiosity. She had conveniently left out that she heard he wanted to marry for love.

"If I am going to restore a clan I really don't wish to be stuck with a wife that I won't love, or with her kids either," he stuck a chunk of food in his mouth. She took her time chewing to allow him to finish. "You asked me if I believed the 'truth' about Itachi. Well I'm still not sure, but I think I've found the answer to what I'm going to do either way."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, she looked him straight on, she had to know.

"I told him that I was going to restore the clan and marry someone I love," Sasuke said. "I told you that maybe subconsciously I knew what I was going to do. I didn't think when I said that, I was just feeling and it came out. Like I felt irritated and I answered him honestly. If it is true about Itachi, then I don't want to ruin what he wanted for me. It was his dream. That I would return home a hero for destroying the clan killer, he hoped I would rebuild our clan in a much more pure image than it was. I plan to do so."

Sakura could feel a wet thing trail down her cheek and she realized she was crying. She wiped them away quickly but it was to late he had seen them.

"Sakura?" he said softly. "Why are you crying?" He felt out of place and didn't know how to react.

"I'm so happy," she answered him. "That your not going to destroy the village. I believe that following his wishes like that is really the best, you'll be happier that way too."

The corners of his mouth curled upward into a smile.

"Thanks Sakura," he liked how she could always find the good in his reasoning, even if he couldn't.

"S-Sasuke?" Sakura was blushing now and Sasuke became nervous.

"Yes?" he braced himself for a question about that kiss.

"Hanako's father also mentioned that he thought you spoke like you already had someone in mind," Sakura's face grew redder. _What am I doing? I'm setting myself up for heartache. What if he's planning on marrying Ino? What would I do? _Sakura thought. "Is that true?'

"..." Sasuke was silent, his face was growing more and more red as well.

Sakura's jade green eyes looked away from him. She hadn't touched her food for a few moments and she was terribly afraid of his answer now. She regretted opening her mouth.

"I-I thought so," he answered finally.

"..." Sakura's heart filled with the tiniest fragment of hope, even when her mind told her that it was most likely not possible.

"But I'm not sure how she feels," he stated simply. He left the obvious question hanging in the air. Now she wanted to know who. ""Maybe she'll surprise me someday."

Sakura didn't know how to react. The rest of the dinner was so silent. He left after dinner and she was left doing dishes. She had given him a dish of extra food for him to make at home. At least he would have to take the dish back or she'd have to go get it.

Sakura laid her head down for a night of sleeplessness. She could feel the tiredness and the awareness. Her hair sprawled out on the pillow, she left her window open slightly to let in the cool night air. Even as she tried to hard to think of anything other than the conversation at dinner she couldn't'. Fluffy bunnies on the brain? Nope, it was dinner on her mind.

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**I'm having fun with this story, it's becoming one that I really want to finish. I'm not sure how many more there will be but it will have a proper ending when the time comes. Depressing I know. :'( Well, Thanks for reading! Reviews are loved. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. **

**So here is chapter two, and I know a lot of people expected for it to be revealed who it is Sasuke plans on marrying but it'll have to wait, there will be one more little twist before it's all said and done. So Read, Enjoy, Review. It makes me a happy writer.**

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Cherry Blossoms

**13**

Sasuke finished brushing his teeth and had seen a bird sitting on the edge of the bathroom window. True, he had left it open but he'd never seen a bird so close. He went to scare it off but in it's foot was a tiny scroll.

The bird dropped it and left him to gawk at it. It was tiny, and he opened it carefully. The scroll was a summoning to the Hokage's office. It was odd for the message to come from a bird instead of a messenger ninja. He got ready as quick as he could. He prepared for anything, and was off out of the house like a flash of dark lightening.

He appeared just outside of Hokage's office and Shizune jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of the Uchiha. "S-Sasuke-kun," she stuttered.

"Leave us Shizune," Tsunade commanded. Shizune left the room promptly.

"You summoned me?" he asked more than stated.

"It's not what you think," she sipped on a cup of sake. He moved to the front of her desk and her eyes were closed, she was trying to enjoy the moment before all hell broke loose. "The elders have another request. Well, more like an order than a request."

"What is it?" he was concerned now. It was already a lot of pressure on him as it was. To find a bride within a year.

"Every single one of them agreed on this," she sighed. Her brown eyes opened and looked him in the eyes. "Sasuke, they want you to refrain from missions above c-rank. Even higher c-ranking missions are going to be frowned upon."

"What?" he was shocked and upset. "How can they restrict my missions?"

"They treated Naruto like this for sometime now," she explained. "He's had to prove he could be trusted and take care of himself."

"I'm capable of both!" he argued.

"I this Sasuke! Please don't raise your voice to me!" she reponded. Sasuke went silent. "I've tried, if I can even get one to go along with me then I can over rule them. However they won't budge. My advise is to do as they want. Stay low, and by the end of the year when you get married, like you agreed to, they'll budge more willingly."

"Fine," he shot out quickly.

"Sasuke," she sounded irritated, like he was acting like a small child. "I trust you can handle this and occupy your time with other things until then. Try to follow their orders. What I saw next I don't want you to take as a threat but I know they mean it to be."

Sasuke listened closer to this.

"Sasuke," she sighed. "They want me to research if it's possible to transfer eyes to another."

Sasuke's eyes went wide, "They wouldn't?"

"They mean it as a threat I'm sure but they think your dangerous and that way if you betray us they have a solution to their problem of the Sharingan," Tsunade explained. Sasuke paced around the room.

"Is this what happens after a year if I'm not married and expecting to have kids?" he asked her. The elders were going overboard on his restrictions.

"I think they mean it to be, yes," Tsunade answered. "Sasuke, I don't like their orders and I will disobey them if they seem crazed by this paranoia."

"I don't know what to do in the mean time," he said honestly. "What do I do with so many low ranking missions? It's like being a genin again."

"They want you to date someone," she said. "It doubles from protecting your Sharingan and getting you available to work on relationships."

"I don't like this," he stated. "Their meddling to much, things will happen in time, they can't just dump all of this on me within a few days."

"They think they can," she agreed. "One day they won't have all this authority."

They were silent until there was a knock at the door.

"Enter Sakura," Tsunade waved her hand to dismiss Sasuke.

The door cracked open and Sakura poked her head through, "You summoned me Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes," Tsunade nodded. Sakura looked healthy, like her recovery had gone smoothly. Her ANBU tattoo clearly visible and her arm had a small scar below it. Her sake cup was empty and she wished Shizune was around to fill that cup. She was so good at that. "I have a mission for you Sakura."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," she bowed respectfully. She was dressed in her ANBU Black Ops uniform that was made for her. Her mask hanging in her fingers.

"Glad your dressed to go already," she smiled at her pink haired student. "The mission is this: there are five smaller villages outside of our reach. There are four and then a larger center city that they surround. Each village has reported an attacking recently."

"Attacking?" Sakura repeated. "What's attacking them?"

"That's only half of your mission," she tossed a scroll to Sakura. This is a map marked with the location of the villages on them. On a nation's map these villages don't show up, their to small. They don't have ninja to protect them, most are farmers, and such like that. They aren't paying up front for the help, I've made a deal with them."

"So what exactly is my mission?" Sakura asked, she peeked at the map. There were small red X's where the villages were located and one larger X in the middle of the four.

"Find out what's attacking them and get rid of it for them," she said. "Also their attacks leave many injured and dead. If it continues they could all be wiped out. However you could be out there for months. It seems they attack once a month now. It used to be one every five weeks but the time gap is closing on them. Your ninja eyes can spot the attacks better than their eyes can. That's why they can't tell us what it is. This is your first solo ANBU mission. Good luck, Sakura."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," Sakura bowed and she went to pack more. She'd be gone for awhile.

Sakura packed as much nonperishable food as she could, along with extra clothes, and weapons and scrolls. When she was finished she went straight for the gates. She made one stop to drop of a piece of paper to the Uchiha estate.

She left the village and the mask felt good over her face, the whole uniform felt like it was very well made for her. She jumped from branch to branch and she ran for hours trying to get to a village quickly. According to when the last attack happened it gave her a week to get to the village before an attack would be made. She knew which was the next target. It was a set pattern. She had noticed this from the other little notes in the scroll she was given and the information Tsunade had given her.

The sun was setting onto the horizon. Sakura felt sleepiness stiffen her joints, and make them heavier. She was close enough that getting a whole night sleep would be fine, she would arrive early in the morning.

Setting out her bedroll she ate some food to quiet her loud hungry stomach. The night was to quiet and Sakura did not like the feeling the woods on either side of the road gave off. She set up genjutsu traps on all sides of her so if anything would try to attack they would sit there imagining that they were wandering the forest for hours until she undid the jutsu.

Sakura's sleep was dreamless. She woke up refreshed and through the strands of hair she could see smoke rising in the distance, she could smell it too. She hurried to pack and arrive at the village within hours. She stopped at the first street, there were houses that smoked but weren't on fire anymore. Her eyes took in the damage. A woman wiping her hands on a cloth caught her eye.

"Was this village attacked in the night?" Sakura asked from beneath the mask.

"Your the one they sent?" the red head stood up straight, she was a head shorter than Sakura but she had an attitude. "Sorry you missed the action."

"Did you see what attacked the-?" she began.

"I didn't see anything through the smoke! I almost burned to death! Because the ninja we sent for hadn't arrived yet," she yelled at Sakura.

"I didn't get the mission until yesterday morning, I was traveling all day to get here," Sakura argued back. "How many are injured?" She decided arguing wasn't best, if there were people alive she had to help.

"I know three are dead," she glared at Sakura. "You don't seem to know what your doing."

"Chiyu!" a man a few years older than her stepped forward. "Don't argue with the only ninja they sent to help. Help is better than nothing."

"Where was she last night?" Chiyu's brown eyes targeted this boy, he had red hair like her. "Where was her 'help' then? When we needed it."

"We need it now too!" he shouted back at her. He turned to Sakura. "Please! The injured are further into the village, I think eleven were hurt last night. It was actually four that died."

"That's practically half our village right there!" Chiyu turned her anger to Sakura.

Sakura was gone, she made her way to the small gathering of people and the injured they had laying on the ground. She knelt beside the worst of the bunch and used her chakra to evaluate the situation.

He had stopped breathing, his heart stopped.

"Please move aside!" Sakura shouted. People didn't see her appear and they nearly gasped when she took the mask off to listen closer to his heart. She pumped his chest through CPR, adding a burst of chakra to help start it back up. In seconds it was beating faintly again. She used her healing palm jutsu to heal the wounds enough to where he would live, and she moved onto the next.

Ten people later she was wiping the sweat from her brow and sighing in relief. All the injured had been attended to. They would live, and she was offered some food by volunteers who helped her. She gladly accepted and they told her stories about the attacks what they thought it was.

"So it's a pack of beasts?" she concluded from Shiori's stories.

"It seems that way," she nodded. "Just look at Chiyu's neighbor's door. It ripped the door right off. Left claw marks."

Sakura made a mental note to look into it.

When she left the small area where they had treated the injured she found the small cemetery that had been growing recently. She found Chiyu putting a flower on all four graves but an extra on two.

"Chiyu," Sakura called out to her. The woman whipped her head around after wiping at her face.

"What do you want?" Chiyu started with the attitude. Her clothes were raggedy but it's how most dressed here.

"I'd like you to show me your neighbor's door," Sakura asked as nicely as she could.

"Sure, pinky," Chiyu smirked. Sakura tried to remain calm as she followed Chiyu and they walked in silence.

"This is it," Chiyu pointed to the claw marks on the walls and then the remaining pieces of the door.

Sakura inspected the wood and the door. Upon closer inspection she realized they were wrong.

"This isn't the claw marks of a beast," she said. "It's a weapon."

"Claws are a beast's weapon," Chiyu muttered, mocking Sakura.

"Not claws," Sakura turned to glare at her. "This is a specific weapon, one ninja use."

"You did it," she laughed. "I knew not to trust you."

"Chiyu!" the boy had returned. "Please stop."

"She's giving us the same things we could figure out from the remains!" she pointed out.

"We didn't consider ninja," he pointed out to her. "What else can you evaluate from this?" His question was clearly directed at Sakura. She studied the marks closely and she pulled out her own kunai for a little help.

Sticking it in and tracing the marks she smiled. She could confirm it wasn't a wild pack of animals as they had thought.

"See this puncture hole at the beginning of the marks?" she pointed to him.

"Yeah? What about it?" he tried to look closer.

"It's deeper than the actual mark is," she ran her fingers over it once even. "This is strong wood best for building strong houses. They were trying to break through in one hit, when they couldn't do that, they tried pulling straight out and it probably was stuck in there oddly. Next thing they tried was to drag it, and they used some force to do this, which tore the weaker wooden door right off."

"So they were trying to destroy it, not enter?" he asked.

"it would appear that way," Sakura looked deep in thought. "Those four that died... Where were they during these attacks?"

"Don't you dare accuse them of this!" Chiyu tried to grab the kunai from Sakura's hands but Sakura was much too strong.

"Quiet Chiyu!" the boy said. "They were stationed around the four entrances to our small town."

"What?" Chiyu was shouting at the red haired boy now. "Father and Haru were stationed on the edges? Why didn't they tell us or me?"

"It was decided that some if the hunters would take turns guarding the town and they happened to be stationed on an unlucky night," the red haired boy replied. "I was on guard two nights ago. That night was normal. Haru and father knew what the possibilities were Chiyu! They died honorably."

Chiyu stormed off.

"Because they attacked this village it means they will attack another in a few weeks," Sakura replied. "I'll stay for two weeks and help rebuild. After that I will have to anticipate their next attack and head to that village."

"After this village it's always the the center village that's next," he said. A weak smiled was on his face as he thanked her silently and ran off after his sister. Sakura could only guess that Haru had been the girl's boyfriend. She could only imagine how she would feel if this happened to her. Would she lash out at help like this if she were in Chiyu's shoes?

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**It's so nice to stay home and watch the little high schoolers get on the bus. :3 The big ugly yellow thing. *shudders* Glad I don't have to take it again! I decided to spend my time, (that's not spent in school... yet) to write more. Thanks for reading! Sorry to any readers who who started school. **


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm sorry to inform you that this update is a very small one for a very simple reason. Sakura's mission will be the next few chapters or so and therefore you won't see much of Sasuke. I can't let everyone know what's going on with him back at Konoha until Sakura gets informed too. It makes the plot twist, twisty-er...? **

**Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**

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Cherry Blossoms

**14**

**Sasuke**

Sasuke gritted his teeth together. Sakura's note that she left behind for him only added to his frustration. Tsunade had told him that the elder's orders forbid him from going on missions c-ranked or higher.

Sakura was going to be on an A-ranked mission that could take months, Sasuke wished, so badly, that he could join her. The thrill of a mission like that, he could only imagine nowadays.

_Dear Sasuke,  
I know this must be hard on you, I overheard Tsunade-sama telling you about your mission restrictions, then I get sent on an A-ranked mission. It could take months, and I know you were starting to actually tell me things, so I'm sorry I can't be there for you now. Promise me that when I get back you'll tell me?_

_Sincerely,_

_Sakura_

_PS. Did that kiss actually happen? Or was I having some half-dead fantasy?_

Sasuke couldn't believe she had the guts to try to incorporate humor into that question. She hadn't left him any hints that she thought about it. So it shocked him. Sasuke knew exactly what it was she wanted him to tell her. He was afraid, however, of actually saying it out loud.

Sasuke found himself looking for Shikamaru, he needed some help at the moment and because Sakura was gone Shikamaru was the next best thing. He found Shikamaru's house and pounded on the door.

"Please stop that noise Sasuke! Your being troublesome," he could hear Shikamaru through the door. It opened quickly and Shikamaru invited Sasuke inside. "What brings you here?"

"I'm not sure if you heard about my situation, or the fact that I've been given so many restrictions recently, but I need a little friendly advise," Sasuke stated quickly.

"I'm good with advise," he sat down and motioned for Sasuke to sit as well. Shikamaru's mother came in and spotted Sasuke. Immediately she severed them tea. "Thanks ma."

"Thank you," Sasuke said.

"So what is it you need advise for?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at Sasuke.

"The elders have it so I can't go on missions ranked higher than C," he said. "It's like doing genin work all over again. I can't stand doing that kind of work, so what else is there for me to do?"

"Easy," Shikamaru said. "Your jonin level, you can take on a group of genin and train them. It'll keep you busy and being productive. I'm going to be taking leading a squad of my own here soon."

"That's a good idea, maybe that's the loop hole," Sasuke started thinking. "If they can get a good high c-ranked mission or even a b-ranked mission, then I could actually do something."

"Sasuke," Shikamaru sighed. "We're talking about genin here, they don't go on c-ranked or even b-ranks missions, especially b-ranked."

"Oh, yeah," he admitted, he scratched his head. "At least it will keep me busy."

"Was that all?" Shikamaru asked, he sensed that there was more than this bothering Sasuke today.

"Well..." Sasuke began.

**Sakura**

Sakura had spent the day helping the small village in any way possible. Soon she figured they asked for help with something like watering the crops because they couldn't carry the many buckets from the river that cuts the five villages in half.

She'd spent a good portion of her day clearing rubble and cleaning and carrying things even the larger men in the village couldn't carry. They asked her to heal even the smallest of cuts. She sighed and wiped away the sweat. They were very dependent upon her help now. Chiyu was still avoiding her and giving her nasty glares, while Sakura passed.

Sakura insisted upon sleeping on her bedroll. The fact that some where homeless and the ones who offered her a place to stay didn't offer it to others, well, needless to say if she accepted she could see how Chiyu got her attitude about her. Instead Sakura took a very small amount of food they offered her. This way it showed she was grateful for their assistance as well. Sakura bit into an apple and she felt the burning hunger in her stomach practically swallow the chewed piece before it settled a bit.

Sakura had told many of the villagers the traps she had set, and how to set them themselves. She had to at least assist them in this way. She couldn't leave them open for attacks in her absence. Soon the village would be rebuilt and she planned on leaving sooner rather than later.

The villagers themselves got on her nerves a bit. They all seemed to want her praise for assistance and wanted her help on simple things she knew with practice that they could do themselves. It drained her of her energy. So it was it upset her when Chiyu, her number one 'fan' came over to her little camp.

"Why are you all the way out here?" she kicked a stone.

"Isn't this where I belong?" Sakura said sarcastically. It was Something Chiyu would say to her eventually she figured.

Chiyu's face got redder, but it was hard to see in the dark, "Look I came to apologize but forget it." She turned around to storm off but she only got two steps and she stopped. Without turning she said the words just loud enough for Sakura to catch. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you."

Sakura wondered briefly if it was Chiyu's brother who got her to apologize.

"Thank you," Sakura called out to Chiyu as she left.

The remaining days Sakura spent at the village gave her time to figure which village would be the next target. Just because the usual pattern was the center village next didn't mean they'd stick to it. Especially considering the fact that their usual attack had been a week earlier than usual.

Sakura had hoped to vanish in the night but she was caught by Chiyu's brother.

"Your leaving already?" he sounded hurt. The sun wasn't even on the horizon and she had her pack ready and in her hand. The mask too was in her hand.

"Listen," Sakura started. "The next village that is attacked will be in two weeks, as long as the new pattern is three weeks now instead of four. I'll need to prepare traps and such before the attack and interview the villagers about past attacks. Any knowledge will help me fight this."

"Then stay for a moment please," he touched her hand to stop her. "I found something on my late night hunt."

"What?" Sakura wanted him to spit it out already. She didn't pull away from his touch or flinch the way he expected her too.

"This," he pulled a pack off of his shoulders to pull something out. "It looks like the weapon you said could make the markings."

He handed it to her and she dropped her bag and mask to examine it. It was a glove, and a metal arm brace that had claws, big sharp metal claws that stuck out.

"This is usually used for ninja to climb or for defense," she remembered reading about it. "In fights it's not quite as useful seeing as it's weight is makes it's user slower."

"Then why would they use this?" he asked.

"Maybe it's all they have for weapons," she suggested. "I really need to go now, thank you for showing me this." Her eyes settled on the tiniest fragment of a hair.

'What is it?" he asked trying to get a closer look.

"It's a hair," she picked it up carefully. "I can feel a very faint chakra signature left on it. It's not familiar but it helps."

It was only seconds and she vanished from his sight. He wanted to asked her another question but she had left him there. The sky was colored by the rising sun. She had taken the only evidence he had with her.

The hair itself was a huge chunk of the puzzle, now she just had to find the other pieces.

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**Again, I apologize for the very small update. It's all part of my plan, so no worries. However I do want to thank you for reading and for all the reviews I do get. They are appreciated and loved. Thank you! **


	15. Chapter 15

**This update is slightly longer than the last. It was going to be longer but I got a little bored with the mission, it was repeating alot so I cut it down a lot.**

**Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**

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**Cherry Blossoms**

**15**

**Sakura**

Sakura found herself looking at the reflection in the water. The river which she had been following led her to the center village. She realized now why they were called the five villages. The river was relatively small but it it was large enough that the walls outlining the city had to have an opening large enough for the river to pass beneath.

She could see the very center was a building. Whoever was in charge was there. She could see how grand it looked. Upon entering from the west side she passed through a part of the town that looked extremely poor. She watched as those around her either tried to hide their suffering or glared at the small wall that kept them from the other parts of the village.

She made her way to the building and found that it was on a small island in the middle of the river, here the river was wider. Meaning it was probably shallower. She didn't walk across the bridge that some walked on now, she ran across the water's surface and up the side of the building, slipping into the room she figured was the head of this village.

"Hello ninja," a woman with short black hair and blue eyes turned to meet her. Sakura could see a mirror on the door and her reflection in it. "Are you who the five villages get?"

"You sound disappointed," Sakura wanted to laugh. She kept her cool though.

"Well I thought we'd at least get three ninja to protect us from the upcoming attack, though your earlier than I expected," she pointed to a calendar next to the window in which Sakura was perched. "Is there more coming?"

"Your small villages can't afford more," Sakura replied. "I'm fully qualified to-"

"Oh I'm sure," she straightened a stack of papers. "Your pink hair is frightening." Her voice mocked Sakura.

Sakura stepped down from the window silently and stood before the woman, "I'm here early because the last village I was at was attacked a week sooner than usual. I need to gather any info I can, I'm going to set up traps and genjutsu around the village. I'm going to speak to people about the attacks."

"The attacks are centered on the west side of the village," she replied. "I wouldn't venture over there to ask questions about wild beasts. Their not to friendly, nor can they help you with anything."

"It's not wild beasts that your village is being attacked by, it's rogue ninja," Sakura stated flatly. The woman reminded her of Chiyu before she had warmed up a bit.

"I hope you'll consider canceling that festival of yours," Sakura pointed to the calendar. "It's a prime attack night."

As the woman opened her mouth Sakura was out the window and gone. She had enough of the condescending attitude they had around here.

**Two Weeks Later**

Sakura stood on top of a very tall post. It had three oil lanterns hanging from the sides. She had dimmed the lights to see better. Her eyes would be able to spot something. She had four chakra strings running up to the post. It was a trigger, it would alert her if something was coming in to the village from an odd direction.

The festival seemed to thrive in the dark. Every dressed up and danced. Sakura understood now what this festival was. They thought the attacks were from beasts, so they dressed like them to celebrate them, in hopes of protecting their village from attacks in the future.

Sakura scanned the crowd for suspicious characters and she spotted Chiyu. Why she was there she had no idea but she focused on chakra, she could feel everything that lived within five hundred yards. There were no abnormal chakra fluctuations. Sakura pulled out a thin piece of paper from her vest, it was something Kakashi had told her to get used to doing before every mission as a Black Ops member.

She tucked it back in and felt the chakra perimeter break. Someone was approaching the west wall. The district where all the attacks came from. She swiftly made it to the wall within seconds. There was no time, seven bodies filled with chakra were approaching. She could feel it, she was so in tune to the chakra levels. The one she wondered about however wasn't there. In the hair on the one claw arm she had been shown had traces of chakra in it, very faint, but it felt nothing like these. Sakura had her sword out in seconds to parry all the kunai thrown at her. There were seven of them but she was much more experienced.

Sakura threw four kunai at two and like she had hoped they didn't think anything of it missing them. What they didn't see was a web of chakra strings making a chakra net. It slammed them into the ground, their weapons couldn't cut through chakra, but it would only last for so long.

She could hear gasps and a scream from someone in the west district. They were terrified, they couldn't watch the movements between Sakura and the rogue ninja. She let one slam into her and her body turned into a log, she yanked the hair and slid the kunai across their throat. _One down six to go Sakura._

Taking shuriken she took out the two struggling under the chakra net. Three down. She saw two step forward on the wall to fight hand to hand. Sakura could see very clearly through the mask. She flipped over one's kicking leg and she hit their leg with a burst of chakra in her hand. His leg shattered at the kneecap. They collapsed in pain and watched as the other tried their luck. The punches they threw were easy to dodge, the kunai they swung with was trickier.

She pulled out her sword and a windmill shuriken hit the sword from her hand as she went for the killing blow. She didn't turn to look as they hoped. Instead she took a very large amount of chakra into her fist and punched the rogue ninja in the chest. They flew off into the water, Sakura know she had shattered ribs and maybe even punched a lung. Five down.

The last appeared from the shadows. Suddenly she could feel their heart stop beating and another heart beat took it's place. Beating in time the way the other had, she searched for the chakra signature. It was familiar.

"Of course," Sakura said. "It makes sense now. Why you wouldn't cancel the festival, why you let the other villagers discriminate and hate against the west district."

"Really," the woman who spoke was the woman who had been in the center building. She was the leader of the five villages. "Tell me all about it, oh smart pinky."

"I poked my nose where it didn't belong, but you know that don't you?" Sakura said with the same acid to her voice. "I found all the evidence I needed to prove that your the one behind the attacks. You realize you had the five villages agreed to hire me to kill you and your little band og rogue ninja? Wasn't very smart of you."

"It wasn't smart of your Hokage to send only you," she laughed at Sakura. "Just because my little band of rogue ninja aren't strong enough to handle you doesn't mean that I will be the same."

"That's exactly what it means," Sakura gave all that attitude back to her. "When you die someone else will take your place, maybe then a new era will arrive, one where those who once lived richly live peacefully. If that was their punishment for being rich I think you overdid it by a ton."

"You don't know anything, pinky," Sakura waited for the greatest insult. Ino was the only one she didn't actually murder when she called her that. Sakura realized her mask was on and the woman would never notice how big her forehead was, so she pretended like she had mentioned it.

Sakura somersaulted through the air so quickly and landed behind the woman. She elbowed Sakura in the face and with a puff of smoke a log took her place and a hand came up from the ground to trap her. She picked up a weapon and swung at the hands that held her. They were gone in a puff of smoke as she hit them with the kunai. Sakura's leg kicked the kunai away in a swinging motion. Still turned she leg her other leg hit her upside the head. A few yards away the leader of the five villages stood up laughing like a freak. Her face was contorted to mirror the whole psychotic thing she had going for her.

She made hand signs to quick for Sakura to see. Sakura pulled out a scroll that reminded her of Tenten. Biting her finger and smearing blood upon the page many shuriken surrounded her, all of which she sent flying at the leader of the villages. She herself had summoned three large windmill shuriken. They swooped past the smaller shuriken and knock some from their path and all three hit Sakura, but that's not the thing that caught her off guard. It was the poison that she could feel right away. She knew some shuriken had hit their mark, but her target would live, what about her?

Sakura began healing as many cuts as she could, if her body only had to fight the poison it gave her a slightly higher chance of living. The other escaped. Sakura fell into a world of blackness.

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**Guess who's back next chapter! Sas-kay-kun! X3 **

**I'm trying to update as much as I can before the 30th. That's when my classes start, I figure I'll have a lot less free time, so I'll get as much done now as I can. I also have to work a ton this weekend, but I daydream a lot at work and it gives me ideas for how things should play out next. **

**I think writing missions is not a strength for me. But it has a purpose. ****Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. **

**So I will admit there is some cheesiness to this, but I personally think a litle cheese never hurt, as long as it's not overdone. Sasuke is back in the story and he'll be in there until the end now. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

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Cherry Blossoms

**16**

**Sakura's Point of View**

I was taken by this sea of blackness. It consumed me, it kept me alive, and it kept me insane. I had the strangest dreams that turned to nightmares. I couldn't wake up because it wasn't sleep I was in. It was a poisoned state. My body couldn't wake itself up. So the endless black abyss continued.

It felt like I was falling, there was absolutely nothing to grab, nothing to reach out to. It wasn't just gravity pulling me down, it was some other force pushing, nearly crushing me, as I fell. I heard voices all the time but they made no sense so eventually I tuned them out. It was hard, but I eventually did it, just like I eventually made the black flames cool to the touch. It was probably an effect from the poison, but it felt like hell.

Then there was this one dream, it was a memory, pleasant because I was with Sasuke, in fact there were many memories of Sasuke playing before me. Suddenly the black abyss had color, sound and feeling.

Then his voice filled my heart, "Sakura? What about that promise?"

"What promise?" I reached out, his voice sounded so close in the darkness, like I could reach out and touch him.

"You wrote me that note," his voice was farther, and it was fading. I chased it. "You said when you came back you wanted me to tell you."

His voice was to far away, "Wait!" I called out. "Sasuke!"

"You didn't say if, Sakura," his voice was right behind me, I could feel his breath in my ear. Whipping around I saw him, finally. A mental picture in my dying moment. "You said when. When you come home. I'm waiting. I'm …. Waiting... Sakura..."

His picture dissipated from my mind. Dissolved into the black abyss. I had lost him, I couldn't stand that. I called out, running , the darkness beginning to change, little by little. I could hear another voice, it wasn't Sasuke but it was familiar.

"Sakura?" it was Chiyu. Why was she talking to me? But it was more than just Sakura she was saying.

"Sakura, Nee-San!" Sakura could almost laugh if she were awake and conscious, here Chiyu was calling her big sister. "Sakura! Wake up!"

Something peeled open my eyes and the light that flooded in practically blinded me. The darkness I had once felt was fading.

"Nee-San!" Chiyu was crying in joy. "Your alive!"

Her flame red hair was all I could see of her at first. Then her big green eyes. She was dressed a little nicer. "Chiyu?" I asked. It sounded like a breath of air coming out of me, my voice was so shaky and little. I was completely weak. I didn't like this feeling. "Where am I?"

"Your in the center villages hospital," she smiled big. She brushed a strand of her hair back and adjusted my bed so I could see around me. "It's a miracle they were able to give you herbs to slow the poisons progression. Their not sure how you survived. Maybe a strong will?"

"Not a strong will," I tried to sit up. "A strong memory. I made a promise, and I was reminded of what that meant."

"Was the promise to a Sasuke?" she asked. My face went red. Which I didn't think it could do considering the state I was in.

"Yes," I answered. "What happened Chiyu?"

She handed me a glass of water and I felt the water go down my dry throat. It coated my hungry stomach with a cool feeling. "All I know is I found you alone and there were many of those rogue ninja down as well. Did you do that Nee-San?"

"Why are you calling me that?" I asked her as politely as I could.

"I know a little about medicine," she admitted. "I wondered if someday you would tech me some things. I can't learn medical ninjutsu but I can learn herbs that help with healing and proper techniques and things like that."

"Someday," I laughed a little, but it hurt so I stopped. "Help me up Chiyu."

"Nee-San! That's not a good idea," she told me. I waved her away. I've seen worse injured do great things. Chiyu, don't ever tell someone what they can't do."

Chiyu was silent as I sat up, soon I swung my legs over the edge. I grabbed the clipboard on the end of my bed and studied it. Traces of the poison were still there though for the past months it had been slowly fading from my blood stream. _Wait, months?_

"How long have I been in here Chiyu?" I started to freak out. It was said something about four months of recovery. I had left Konoha about five months from this day. Which meant Sasuke's time was fading a heck of a lot quicker than I imagined. I had to finish this and quickly.

"Sakura," Chiyu took the clipboard. "We couldn't take you back to Konoha, it takes to long for us to travel by foot and you'd die on the journey. We couldn't afford a messenger ninja to send for Tsunade. We hoped you'd live, and that all besides the herbs we could do."

I stood up on my shaky legs, Chiyu grabbed my arm to steady me but I brushed her off. I had to get back to normal and fast. I had to finish this. I noticed my ANBU uniform was gone. "Where's my uniform?"

"Here," Chiyu pulled them out of a bag. "I tried to repair what I could. I found this in the pocket on the inside. I didn't read it."

"I know what that is," Sakura took the paper. "Kakashi told me I'd have to get use to writing those on every ANBU mission I was assigned, in case I died."

Opening the letter I read the words. I didn't remember what had been on it. I couldn't remember much.

_Dear Sasuke,_

_I know this letter is intended to inform you that I've been killed in action. So if you get this I want you to know I've failed. Not only my mission but you. I made that promise and here I am dieing. Sucks I know. I've uncovered through some archive scrolls that the leader of the five villages has been giving money to these rogue ninja to rough up these villages. The nation in which they live gives them money to rebuild, however she doesn't use it to rebuild. It's a cycle, and I'm passing this onto you to inform Tsunade-sama that I've failed and my mission went awry. I really wanted to know. _

_I love you, _

_Always Sakura._

Seeing the words on the page felt like I was reading someone else love letter.

I hobbled into the hallway to get a pen and paper, I had to send a letter, I had to notify them that my mission was about to be complete. The receptionist looked at me like I was nuts from the poison. With a short note to Tsunade, I asked them if there were any messengers that came through the village.

"If there are any, they stay at a small inn owned by the leader's family," they claimed.

"Sakura Nee-San?" she kept up with my weak body easily. The muscles that hadn't been used form months were aching but this was nothing, I was going to have to train to get ready for the final showdown.

In the tearoom there were two messengers. They were stopping through for a rest and I gave them my letter. Seeing my hospital gown they said their fee wasn't cheap.

"How much does it cost?" I repeated myself.

"1600," one said. The other hit his friend and upped the price.

"16000," he held out his hand. I out all of the money I had brought with me in his hand, it was just a bit over their amount.

"I swear," I looked them in the eyes. "If Tsunade-sama doesn't get that letter before I return I will hunt you down and get my money back, you have my word as a shinobi."

"Ah, Nee-San," Chiyu tried to cover for me. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"This could be life and death," I replied. "If they fail or betray me then I could die, so it's important. You have my word, men, as a shinobi."

**Sasuke**

Sasuke traveled down the familiar path to meet his group of genin. He crossed the bridge and tried to sneak attack them from behind. He was perfect at it. He held the sword right at their throats, from behind. "Your dead."

"Sensei!" the girl in the middle shouted with surprise. "You could have killed us!"

"I can assure you if I had intended that I would have turned the sharp side to your throat, Aya," Sasuke replied. Aya's blond hair fell loosely around her face, framing it well, er brown eyes stared at him. She had a huge crush on him and he was her sensei.

"Sasuke," Kakashi's silver hair popped into view from a tree branch. "There's news on Sakura, you wanted to be informed, right?"

"Alright, how about go practice on the training field while I go check out this news," he suggested to the group of genin. Aya and her teammates, Hibiki and Ren, let in disappointment."When did this news reach Konoha?"

"Just this morning a messenger came through with a letter to Tsunade from Sakura," Kakashi said. "I was just about to go check it out, thought you'd like to know."

"Thanks," Sasuke and Kakashi raced to the Hokage's office, they weren't the only ones interested. Sasuke scanned the crowds to see if she was back. There was no sign of the pink haired kunoichi. Naruto and some of the rookie nine were there. Sakura was their friend too, and they had wondered about her. Tsunade had almost sent out a search party for Sakura.

"Uh, please," Shizune tried to quiet the bickering and the chatting.

"Shut up!" Tsunade's voice broke through all others. "First bit of news in about Sakura's progress since she left. She has almost completed her mission. All that's let is take out the leader. She was injured on her mission, and when she returns home I'm going to do a very thorough examination of her."

Sasuke felt a hand squeeze his, Ino was beside him, he knew that she worried. Ino, no matter what she called Sakura was still her very best friend.

"Sakura is expected to arrive home soon," Tsunade said. "Within the next two weeks, even."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He, along with many, hoped for the best.

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**I definately need to go to bed now. I have to get up so early to work. D'X I'll just nap after work tomorrow... today.. eh. **

**Thanks for reading, and I love reviews. I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, I've been up writing instead of sleeping.. Alas, I'm only human. I bet Sasuke doesn't have spelling/grammar mistakes. Oh, well. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. **

**So here is chapter 17. I have difficulties typing these days. Here I go to hit the ' button for don't and couldn't, etc, etc and I keep hitting the ; button. Making for a million of those stupid red squiggly lines, all because I can't life my finger another centimeter.. I'm lazier than Shikamaru.. I really think I am. Ha. ha.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

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Cherry Blossoms

**17**

**Sakura's Point of View**

"Chiyu," I stumbled over my foot again. "I can't continue."

"Nee-San," she sighed. "We've got only another half a days walk."

"I can't do it Chiyu," my knees shook. I brushed the hair out of my eyes. "Chiyu, I haven't eaten since we left the hospital, I can't keep anything down."

"But all those stops when we ate you had something," she countered.

"You remember finding the stream to fill our waters?" I asked her.

"Yeah?"

"I was getting sick then," I admitted. "I didn't tell you because I figured it would worry you. I thought I'd make it to Konoha."

"I thought the poison was fading?" it came out more of a squeaky question for her. She was beyond worry, she was panicking.

"Now don't worry," I held up a shaky hand. "Just get to Konoha and get help."

"Sakura Nee-San," she shook her head. "I can't, I don't know where to get help."

"Anyone on the streets, the first person," I argued with her. "Hell there are ninja guards at every gate, they'll help." My legs buckled under me. I was lucky that her arm had reached out for me and saved me from landing wrong and doing more damage.

'Sakura!" she shouted. "This isn't good, what do I do?"

"Chiyu! Stop panicking, this is how lives end when they are on the verge of dieing," I said as loud as I could manage in my weakening state. "Find someone, anyone, they'll... help..."

My eyes shut out her image, her flame red hair. Her big green eyes. My ears shut out her panicking shrieking voice, and the sobs that followed. She had to be strong, because I couldn't. What was causing me to be so weak? In my last fight with the leader of the five villages to end the attacks she organized she never hit me, I was strong, but it was like I only prolonged the inevitable. There had been tiny amounts of the poison left, but it shouldn't have been enough to weaken me like this.

Unlike the first time I'd passed out from the poison I was dreaming. There was some memories that passed but one thing stood out to me. I was conscious enough to feel something warm around me. Arms, strong arms. My ears could hear a strong heartbeat. My eyes slipped open just enough to see what looked like the face of angel, with short dark hair and dark eyes. It was the last glimpse of real life that I saw.

_At first I was walking through the streets of Konoha, the sun was high and the day was absolutely beautiful. At an open air restaurant was many if not all of the rookie nine and I approached the laughing bunch. I waved and smiled but nobody looked up. Not one even dropped hints like they knew I was there. _

_"Uh, hey guys?" I asked. They chattered about Naruto and one of his act first think later moments. I grabbed Naruto's arm. It was very unlike someone like him and Hinata to ignore someone. They knew how it felt to be unseen. _

_His eyes went to his wrist but he continued on. _

_"I really should have asked someone but I was all ready to go home to ramen!" he smiled. Him ignoring me just made it worse. I got upset, and I punched him in the chest, he fell right over in his chair and people stood up to help him and some laughed._

_"Can;t even keep your butt on a chair Naruto?" Sasuke laughed. _

_"Man I just got this jolt and the wind knocked out of me!" Naruto looked confused. _

_"It looked painful, N-Naruto," Hinata stuttered shyly. _

_"Ha ha guys," I rolled my eyes. "Please, I'm right here." _

_"What was that?" Naruto brushed he dust from his shirt. _

_"Hey! I'm right here!" I shouted in their faces. "Sasuke! I'm keeping my promise, I'm here!" _

_Suddenly it was like the scene slipped from my mind and there was nothing but black again, but there was this heavy sobbing sound. I followed it and when I found who it was I was a little more than slightly disturbed. There was a mirrored copy of myself, sitting in the darkness. I sat down and tapped on my own shoulder. _

_"Um, Sakura?" saying my own name felt weird but I watched as the other me turned around. Her face looked horrible, whatever it was she was devastated. Maybe even beyond that. _

_"Don't wake up Sakura," she said trying so hard to control the sobs. "Whatever you do, don't wake up. Save yourself the heartbreak and don't wake up."_

_"What heartbreak?" I asked. This just got weirder and more disturbing. "What's wrong, what do you know?"_

_"When you see," she looked down. "When you hear it, you'll know. It'll have you wishing you were dead... again..." _

_The words faded and I was left with absolutely nothing to work with. She was just a sobbing girl that couldn't share anything with me. I felt a pressure on my chest, and then another, and my lungs were filled with air, almost like I was just breathing for the first time. I didn't fall into the stream nearby and need CPR did I? _

"Sakura!" Tsunade's voice was the first thing I noticed. "Don't you dare die! Wake up!" Her voice was shaky, and full of sorrow.

_Sensei, _I thought. _I'm so sorry if I can't wake up. You were so good to me, even if I thought at one point that you wanted to kill me._

"Sakura please!" Tsunade sent chakra pulsing through my body and it gave me enough of a jolt to open my eyes and breath on my own. The light flooded my vision, Tsunade was holding my arm. Tears welled in her eyes.

"Tsunade-sama," I said, though it was more like a whisper. "How? What? I-I-" I couldn't form a sentence and she patted me on the shoulder.

"Let me fill you in," Tsunade smiled. "Chiyu found the first person she saw in the village and began crying and telling them that you needed help. It just so happened to be Sasuke walking past the front gates. He carried you to the hospital. I couldn't do anything right away because the poison had this effect of multiplying and the effects were making you grow increasingly weaker. Within the first five days I was researching everything to find an antidote to this poison and I made enough to clean your blood. Just in time. Well, you actually were dead, for less than ten minutes."

"I was... dead?" I repeated.

"Yes," Tsunade answered. "The antidote was cleaning your blood stream and your body went took a turn for the worst. The poison was reacting and took you out. I was manually pumping your heart, forcing the blood to circulate and the antidote to clean your blood. After that I was trying to revive you."

"Thank you," I said quickly. I put my other hand on Tsunade's. "Thank you so much."

Fighting the tears I wiped them away.

"I'm going to let some of your friends visit for awhile now," Tsunade left with the chart and I was left to struggle into a sitting position. Naruto and Ino came into my room, even Sai and Kakashi. Naruto helped me into a sitting position.

"God Sakura we were all so scared," Ino said she held a hand over her heart. "I didn't know what to tell Sasuke, he was worried too. He didn't want to come though."

"Why?" I asked, out of curiosity. _Curiosity killed the cat, Sakura. _My own voice said inside my head. It was too late to take back my words.

"I think he didn't want to add to your trauma by telling you that we're dating," Ino said as softly as she could, like it would lessen the stabbing pain in my chest, or rid the growing lump in my throat.

"Ino!" Naruto hit her shoulder. "If that's what he was trying to do then why did you say it?"

'It's okay,' I said, it wasn't audible, I'm not sure it even made it past my lips.

They argued for a moment before I heard a throat clearing, good old Kakashi. Saving me from my 'friends'.

"I think Sakura may need more rest," Kakashi said to the two bickering next to my bed. "Let's let her rest, shall we?"

They shuffled out of the rooms and I heard Kakashi mutter a sorry Sakura before giving them the worst talking to I've heard from him in a long time. I closed my eyes and all the tears I held back flowed, the pain, the hurt, it crushed my will to be strong. I let myself grieve, I let wave after wave of crying happen. I gave myself a headache, and I cried myself to sleep. The dream was worse.

I kept imagining them together, the life they'd live. The kids she'd have with him. What had all that been for anyway? All that struggling to live? I should have let it crush me right then and there. I should have given in, but there had to be hope. Somewhere in this situation, there had to be some kind of hope.

I slept and in that dream world I tried so hard, not to wake up. I didn't want to. That sobbing me had been right, I shouldn't have woken up. Curiosity had killed me.

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**Nobody please kill me... I'll be posting the next chapter immediately after this one so there's no horrible doom and gloom aura hanging around your computer screen until the next chapter would normally be posted**.

**It's all apart of the twisty-er plot I had in mind. **

**But seriously... don't kill me DX I'm so young! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Not me.. Sadly.. **

**Now here is chapter 18. I posted it back to back to avoid the angry reviews I know I'll get. By the way, thanks to all the readers who do review. I really love getting reviews. So thanks, :)**

**Read, Enjoy, Review. (makes the world gor round.)**

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**Cherry Blossoms**

**18**

**Sakura's Point of View**

Honestly I was disappointed when my eyes fluttered open so naturally. The lump in my throat was still there, and on a tray next to my bed was a tray of food. I looked at it and there was something behind it. Like it had been pushed aside to make room for the tray.

Curiosity got the better of me and I should have prepared myself for the worst. A red tulip. It was familiar and yet the memory that it belonged to was missing. Underneath it was a letter with Sakura scrawled on the front. I moved over the edge to pick it up.

_'Whenever they let you out meet me on the bridge, you'll know which one. The next midday that your out.'_ I read mentally. The handwriting was familiar and yet not, like it had been written by shaky hands.

I looked at the tray. Food would greatly help my recovery. I started to eat, the tray of hospital food was okay, but on the floor next to my bed was a bento box. It was from Hinata.

"Thank you Hinata!" I said out loud, I opened the box and ate the food, which was tons better by the way. My stomach felt like it was normal and would hold for now. I even got out of my hospital bed to venture out into the hallway. My body was much stronger than the last time I woke up from the poison.

I found Tsunade's office and I entered. She was bent over paperwork and she was snoring lightly. Tsunade was probably swamped with work. I sat down and looked at the files. I organized what a could before she woke. Her eyes met mine and she let out a sigh, "Morning."

"Morning?" I replied. I was sure it was nearing dawn by now. "How long have you been here Tsunade-sama?"

"I've been up way to long," she yawned. "I had to find something of an antidote for you. What are you doing up by the way?"

"I wanted to test my bodies strength," I answered. My hair looked longer than I remembered. It felt dirty and greasy to the touch. "May I be released to go home?" I asked her.

"Sakura," she sighed. The grip on the pen in her fingers seemd to tighten. "You only just woke up a day ago, rest more."

I rolled my eyes, "I can rest at home Tsunade-sama."

"Fine," she replied. "But your filling out your own paperwork for that. By the way, that Chiyu girl, what's going to happen to her?"

Tsunade expected an answer from me so I sighed and gave her one, "She want's to learn some medicine from me."

"She won't be able to do medical ninjutsu," Tsunade pointed out quickly, she was always judgmental at first. "She's to old to really be taught how to use chakra."

"She knows," I said. "She wants to learn what she can from me aside from that."

"Sakura," Tsunade stopped me once more before I left. "Focus on your own health before you go jumping back into the routine of life. Chiyu's training can wait, missions and hospital work can all wait. Have Chiyu stay with you and help you. That's training in itself and it benefits you."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," I smiled. "For everything. I mean it."

"I know," she returned my smile. I let the door click behind me and she sighed and the scribbling sound the pen made began. I let a small smile play at the edge of my lips before I found everything I needed to leave. The paperwork was easy, finding Chiyu was easy, getting home was more difficult. I needed Chiyu's support to help me. She talked and chattered with me along the way. Once I let the door open to my apartment I was met with a squeak from Chiyu.

"This place is huge!" she wandered all over the place memorizing every detail as I went over to the couch to fall onto it. Her eyes focuses on all the medical and ninja books I'd grown up with. She went to pull one out but stopped, her fingers were on _Useful Herbs. _"Oh I'm sorry Sakura, Nee-San! I'll make tea for you."

"After a shower, tea sounds great," I left her in the living room to go shower. I grabbed the softest towel and clothes. The water rid me of all the dirt and grime that I couldn't wipe away with a dry cloth. The shampoo made me smile, I loved smelling like cherry blossoms. It was ironic but it was something I loved.

Chiyu found her own way around the kitchen. She came back nearly fifteen minutes later with steaming cups of tea. I was in a robe drying off my hair, the robe was long, fluffy, very soft and pink. "If I give you a list of food and money will you shop for food to fill the apartment?" I asked.

"Of course Nee-San," she sounded almost insulted like I had asked her if she'd steal my money and my list and leave me to die. "I'll get you a pen and paper and I'll head right out."

"Good," I waited for her to return. My eyes ventured to a picture on the end table. It was one of Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi and I. The tears I expected didn't come. It was like there was nothing left to cry. It didn't take her long to return and get ready for shopping. The clock was what I looked at as soon as she left. It was eleven by now. It had taken us so long to get home and it would take me some time to make my way anywhere.

I changed into something very casual. Dark pants, and a pink shirt with the Haruno symbol on the sides at the bottom my black boots completed the basics. I added a black jacket and even a black hat, I was cold, it could be because I was weaker than most but it did feel cooler out than when I had last walked the streets of Konoha.

How much time had passed since I was last able to just walk? I passed people all over, I was almost out of breath and finally it was in view. That bridge. It had to be the one that was mentioned. I walked up and waited. Maybe who ever it was planned to be here everyday until I showed up. That was what I hoped for. I know this whole thing was setting me up for disaster. Curiosity was getting the better of me lately. Whether it was going to kill me or spare me I was going to find out soon.

I leaned over to look at the water the passed below the bridge. There were colored leaves in the water, drifting to wherever. I watched my reflection. My hair was longer, it was clean and it was slowly drying. I set my chin down onto my arms and finally a figure appeared beside me in the reflection. I got up slowly and turned when I heard my name, "Sakura."

"Sasuke?" I could feel the lump returning, and even the beginnings of tears. I fought with every ounce of control to keep this hidden.

"You left me that letter?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah," he said. His one word seemed to drop and there was only the sound of tree leaves rustling in the background. His hair blew around slightly in the wind and my hair swung to one side.

"Uh, Sasuke?" I began. The awkward silence thing had to stop, it just mad things harder.

"Hm?" he responded. His beautiful black eyes met my jade green eyes, there they were locked.

"About that note I left you," I didn't know if I had the heart to continue this. My eyes were averted downward. "The promise that I made..."

"You kept it," he smiled. It was like a dream, this moment. But I had to forget dreams, this couldn't be a dream. I'd die if he said,_ "I love Sakura"_ and it was only a dream and I was asleep in the shower or on the couch. "So I'm going to keep mine."

I looked up at him, he was going to tell me what I was afraid of. He was going to say it was Ino, that it always had been, that I was silly for ever thinking it could be me. The tears were hard to keep back, but it was all I could do, besides breathing, I meant.

"Me dating Ino doesn't affect this at all," he said.

"What?" my face contorted into a very confused look. What on earth was he saying?

"I don't know how to put this, or, rather, how to say it," he pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Just tell me, Sasuke. Just say the words, even if it hurts me._

"Ino is and isn't my girlfriend," he said finally. Still it made no sense but my heart skipped a beat. The hope I thought had died was always alive. I knew there was the possibilty that he would say it was a joke that I would never hope again, that I would regret the shred of hope for ever existing.

**Sasuke's Point of View**

Sakura was not making this any easier for me. The look she started out with, it was like staking me in the heart with the chopsticks she would sometimes use in her hair or something. She looked so fragile, so thin, and so ready to break. If I said this in the wrong way at all it would ruin her forever. It was something I was so afraid of doing, bu she seemed to only crack more and more without my help. She was having some mental conflict that I had no access to, no way to kill the fears and doubt unless I told her what everything I was saying meant.

I wondered how I had gotten to this point, the spot where Ino was my girlfriend. How did this start?

_"So what is it you need advise for?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at me. _

_"The elders have it so I can't go on missions ranked higher than C," I said. "It's like doing genin work all over again. I can't stand doing that kind of work, so what else is there for me to do?" _

_"Easy," Shikamaru said. "Your jonin level, you can take on a group of genin and train them. It'll keep you busy and being productive. I'm going to be taking leading a squad of my own here soon." _

_"That's a good idea, maybe that's the loop hole," I started thinking. "If they can get a good high c-ranked mission or even a b-ranked mission, then I could actually do something." _

_"Sasuke," Shikamaru sighed. "We're talking about genin here, they don't go on c-ranked or even b-ranks missions, especially b-ranked."_

_"Oh, yeah," I admitted, scratching my head. "At least it will keep me busy." _

_"Was that all?" Shikamaru asked, he sensed that there was more than this bothering me today, and he was right.. _

_"Well..." I began. _

_"So spit it out Sasuke," Shikamaru sounded very impatient. _

_"I have the feeling I'm going to have a billion and one fathers and mothers trying to hook me up with their daughters," I shuddered at the thought. "Shikamaru is there someway to stall them until she returns?" _

_"Whose **she**?" he asked. _

_"I can't tell," I replied. It didn't seem to be helping me but he let out a snort of a laugh._

_"So mysterious, eh Sasuke?" he laughed at me. _

_"Ha ha," I said in a flat tone. _

_"Date somebody else until she gets back and then go out with her, or just wait it out until she comes back," he said. Shikamaru was always the one I trusted for ideas like this. It was exactly what I was going to do.  
"Thanks Shikamaru," I shook his hand and left him to do whatever lazy thing he likes. _

This probably isn't what Shikamaru had in mine when he gave me that advise, but this is what I got out of that. Which leads me to this tangled mess, and this crying Sakura.

"Sakura, Ino was meant to be temporary," I admitted.

I felt horrible for doing this to Ino but when I had finally replied to her confessions I had said it first thing, "_But this is only temporary. Okay?"_

_"Of course!" she was so happy sounding, I felt evil for this._

"By temporary you mean?..." she looked at me. She sighed, "Sasuke just tell me who it was all along. Please? I can't keep up with this. I'm not fully recovered yet. This is confusing me a great deal and I'm not sure of anything your saying."

I touched her forehead gently and she felt warm.

"Maybe you shouldn't have left the hospital yet," I responded.

"Sasuke," she sounded irritated and tired. "Just tell me. Who was it you had in mind to marry? I just have to know.. or .. I'll... I'll..."

"Your what?" I was suddenly very concerned.

"I'll die again," she whispered. It was so faint but I knew that was what she said.

"Sasuke, I was dead for nearly ten minutes," she said.

"What?" I didn't hold back the urge to hold her. "Ino said you were fine! She lied!" I knew why too, she knew what Sakura returning meant.

Sakura didn't put her arms around me for a moment while she talked.

"I was watching myself cry, horribly and it was about you," I could feel my shirt getting warm and wet from her tears. Her fingers clutched onto the back of my shirt, onto me. "I told myself not to wake up, Sasuke, because it wasn't worth the heartbreak. It's like I knew. I knew it was never me."

"It is though," I said finally through gritted teeth. I hated her feeling this way because of me. These restrictions, they kept me from being by her side on that mission. The months apart kept me on edge, wondering if death had taken her already. "It was always you, Sakura."

I could feel her knees shake. She let out a gasp and I held on tight.

"Please don't be lying to me," her words were drenched in desperation. "Sasuke, if your lying then..."

"I'm not lying Sakura," I said. "I was dating Ino to get the families off my back, I've had so many offers to continue family businesses if I only marry this girl or that girl. Sakura, you were always different than Ino and all those other girls, it was you that I wanted to marry. The way you were there for me was different, the way you cared was different, the way you listened, the way you showed me who you were, it was all different. You weren't that way when I first met you, but Sakura you grew up. You grew up into this girl now that I love."

**Sakura's Point of View**

If this was a dream it was the best one by far, so realistic. But there were so many factors that pointed to it being reality. The way his shirt felt, his warm arms, the tight grip he had on me, the chin resting on my head. Then he said it. _"You grew up into this girl now that I love."_

My grip on his shirt tightened and my arms wrapped around him tighter.

"I love you too Sasuke," I said. "I did as Kakashi said and wrote one of those letters in case I would die. It was the thing that said, 'I love you'. I didn't want it to be the way you found out. That's why the memory was triggered, the memory that gave me that strength to live. Sasuke, that was you."

I didn't want this moment to end, but all good things come to an end. At least it ended just as nicely. We pulled back at look each other in the eye and he surprised me with a sweet little kiss on the lips that I eagerly returned.

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**Maybe I'm safe now? I hope. Well I have some news that nobody will actually care about so I'll share it. I bought myself an atcual desk to sit at with my laptop and type at! My weekend now consists of working a ton, cleaning my room, setting up my desk and finishing this story. There will only be a chapter or two after this. Sorry folks I don't write lemons. I'm a little like Hinata, I'd faint. I think most stories are fine with or without lemons, and if some people really have pervy minds they can just leave it to their imaginations. **

**Thanks for reading, please review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I do not own Naruto, but Masashi Kishimoto does. **

**One last chapter left to write, and that will be the epilogue. It'll be set five years from this time period. I don't think I ever really gave an age for them but their about 17-18 here. I probably should have mentioned that earlier. My bad. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**

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**Cherry Blossoms**

**19**

**Several Months Later**

Sakura was standing in the hallway, her hair pulled up into a messy bun. With her long hair it made it easy to look messy. She had the chopsticks stuck in them and she kept sweeping a strand back that was to short to put up. She was studying a chart, Sasuke and his genin team were waiting for her answer. Her lab coat made her look more official. She had been studying Tsunade's research with great interest.

"Hmm," was all Sakura said. "I'll be back out." Sakura entered the room that Tsunade had been in for nearly two minutes. She set the chart down and both their eyes met. Tsunade nodded to Sakura and she carefully unwrapped the bandages.

"Don't try opening your eyes until we tell you it's okay to," Sakura said. "If the transfer worked then we have to be careful with these new eyes of yours."

"I'm going to do a series of tests before I say open them alright?" Tsunade asked the girl sitting up in the bed. Her expression was neutral, almost like disbelief.

"This isn't going to work," she sighed. "I have the feeling I was never meant to see."

"That's not true," Sakura said quickly. "Your grandmother always wanted you to see! She gave you her eyes so that you could see the beauty of this world. Maybe your meant to see the natural beauty and appreciate things for what they are rather than what they look like."

The girl smiled, "At last someone, other than my grandmother, makes my blindness sound like something beautiful." Her dark black hair was down to her hips. Sakura moved the hair out of her eyes and watched as Tsunade did light tests. Sakura slipped out just for a moment to update the group outside.

"So far it seems good," Sakura smiled. The smile made Sasuke smile naturally.

"I'm a little worried though," Sasuke scratched at the back of his head. "This was the kind of research the elders asked Tsunade to do. About transferring eyes. So she could do it on me if I decided to be alone."

"Tsunade was forced to research this, yes," Sakura admitted and his genin team gasped, at least the girl did. "However, in this case, it worked well. When Tsunade sent out word for testing this grandmother and her blind granddaughter came forward. It was an interesting case so Tsunade decided to work on it. I'm honored she shared as much with me as she has."

"Sakura!" Tsunade called from in the room.

"One moment guys," Sakura walked back into the room. She was at Tsunade's side in seconds. "So, did it work?"

"I wanted you to be here when she opens them," Tsunade said. "Alright, you can open them, but do it slowly."

The girl's eyes lifted very slowly, and she was staring at her hands. She opened them fully and brought them to her face, she pulled the hair out to look at it. She looked at everything.

"So this is what the world looks like?" she gawked at everything, and then her eyes rested on Tsunade and Sakura. Both were smiling so wide that she couldn't help but smiling and she started to tear up. "I can see."

Sakura couldn't hold back, she gave the girl a much needed hug, "This was what your grandmother wanted for you for so long. If she could see you now. I'm sure wherever she is she's looking at you with only happiness."

Sakura had left the girl in Tsunade's care while she went to spread the good news. The genin team had left, Sasuke was the only one waiting now. His green vest, along with his serious expression, made him look more mature than when they had been in the academy. Sakura lifted her face to give him a peck on the lips before handing a paper over to the receptionist.

Now she was off duty, she had been there all day with Tsunade, waiting, filling time in with anything until they could be sure the girls eyes were healed. Sasuke had been curious about the end result as well. It made sense, he could be worried Tsunade might still try it, or maybe he just thought that it was interesting all together. Whatever it was Sakura wouldn't know unless she asked him.

"She now has sight," Sakura said a moment after she had pulled away from the kiss. "Thanks to her grandmother and Tsunade-sama."

"You helped too, Sakura," he countered. "You don't give yourself enough credit. If it wasn't Tsunade doing it, it probably would have been you."

"I would have tried," she replied. She wrapped her arms around him into a hug. "I just know there were things I missed in her research that she had to point out to me. She went all out into this. I wonder if I could have done all that too?"

"I have no doubt in your abilities what so ever," he pulled back to look her in the eyes. "So don't you doubt yourself either. If you missed things when looking at the research it's because you had the idea that Tsunade would fill you in, you knew you didn't have to search for yourself. If it had been just you, you would have found the answers on your own too."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled.

"Don't get me wrong though," Sasuke threw out quickly. "I'm very glad your not cocky. That would be hard to deal with."

Sakura laughed. She walked by his side out of the hospital.

They walked to her apartment so she could grab the last of her boxes. Sakura turned the key in the lock and stared for a moment at the empty apartment, the last of her stuff was small things, she would take one box and a small bag and Sasuke was carrying two boxes. She set the bag down to turn the key in the lock for the very last time before dropping the key off in the mailbox of the building manager. She gave it one last glance before stepping back in sync with Sasuke.

"Going to miss it?" he asked.

"Yes and no," she answered. "It was special and yet it was never that special, ya know?"

He smiled, "I understand."

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

Sakura glanced at the engagement ring on her left ring finger. It was Sasuke's mother's ring. _It had to mean something if he gave me that ring, right?_

**Flashback From Sakura's Point of View**

_If this was a dream it was the best one by far, so realistic. But there were so many factors that pointed to it being reality. The way his shirt felt, his warm arms, the tight grip he had on me, the chin resting on my head. Then he said it. _"You grew up into this girl now that I love."

_My grip on his shirt tightened and my arms wrapped around him tighter. _

_"I love you too Sasuke," I said. "I did as Kakashi said and wrote one of those letters in case I would die. It was the thing that said, 'I love you'. I didn't want it to be the way you found out. That's why the memory was triggered, the memory that gave me that strength to live. Sasuke, that was you." _

_I didn't want this moment to end, but all good things come to an end. At least it ended just as nicely. We pulled back at look each other in the eye and he surprised me with a sweet little kiss on the lips that I eagerly returned. _

_"Sakura," the way he said my name could turn my limbs to jello. Maybe that was the weak feeling, or some combination of both? The next thing I know he's moved back a second and his hands in a pocket. My mind didn't connect the two until he pulled something small and shiny out. I had to keep a grip on myself, I wanted to squeal with excitement, but I also wanted to just be silent and enjoy this moment. "This was my mother's ring. I wasn't sure I wanted to give it to anyone but I realized it had been in our family for generations, it would have been what she wanted, the next generation to have it." _

_I couldn't say his name but it was there on my lips. New tears forming in my eyes, I wiped at them and thought, _'how could I possibly have more tears now?'_ He took my left hand and I saw that he was on one knee. _

_"Sakura, marry me," he had a pink tone to his cheeks. I could feel the heat on my own cheeks as well. "I want it to be you and I that rebuild the Uchiha clan, and we'll make it better than it ever was." _

_I felt the lump in my throat return, I was choking on my own happiness, was that even possible? Apparently so. I nodded my agreement because I had to kept wiping at my eyes with my free hand. The tears and the lump in my throat made it nearly impossible to communicate._

_"Are you sure?" he asked. "Do you want some time to think it over?" _

_I chuckled a little. _

_"Sasuke," I began. I could say this much. "Do you want the girl that you propose to have to think it over or know it in her heart already?" The corners of his lips turned up into a smile, and my own lips reflected his. _

**Flashback Over**

"I'm ready for everything," Sakura replied confidently. "I'm ready for it all." They arrived at the Uchiha estate and they entered their home and Sakura began making tea and supper. Tomorrow was the day they would make it official. It wasn't anything special, Sakura didn't really want all the attention, when she thought about it there were to many chances where she would be open to an attack from one of his angry fan girls.

"I hope you're ready," Sakura teased Sasuke. She set a plate down of food and they broke apart the chopsticks. While eating she watching him, he seemed happy and she was happy. They were young but they had their whole lives ahead of them.

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**Being honest I got an idea for a line or two from the movie Valentines Day. I might have tweeked it a bit though. As I said, there will be one last chapter and I'll have finished my second story. I'm quite happy about that considering I used to never finish what I started. **

**Had my first college class today, it was only one, basic writing. I had scored just below what it took to get into Composition 1 right away. That sucked but hey I'm not complaining, maybe there's a reason I didn't score better. Maybe my writing really will improve (iHope). **

**Thanks for reading and listening to the little update about my life. Leave a comment or review. I love it when ya do. Thanks to the people who leave reviews all the time. I love it. :3 **

**See you next chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, that ninja kid here. I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. **

**This is the very last chapter for Cherry Blossoms. Sadly, everything comes to an end. I hope you all enjoy it. Reviews are loved. **

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**Cherry Blossoms**

**20**

**Epilogue**

Sakura kept her eyes closed for a moment. She knew Sasuke was standing at the base of the Cherry Blossom tree. He was staring at he peaceful look on her face, he wondered vaguely if she was happy.

"Sakura?" he said quietly.

"Shh," she shushed him. "You might wake the twins." Her eyes opened and she stared at him.

"But what is it?" she asked anyways.

"This maybe a stupid question but sometimes I wonder if your happy," he spoke what was on his mind. "It's hectic around here a lot and I get to thinking maybe this isn't what she wanted from life."

Sakura could see the worry that built up in his eyes. She smiled.

"How could I not be happy?" she got down from the tree. She had a white dress that seemed to make her pink hair more vibrant. It flowed nicely and was cinched in the right areas to show off her figure. She was lean and athletic. Her hair was very long these days, it was almost down to her butt. She had it down and it was a little wavy from her curling it the day before.

Her jade eyes seemed to smile at him, "Ten years ago I could only dream of this kind of life, a life with you. It's come true Sasuke, there's no way I'd trade my life for anything else."

"Good," he replied, the worry faded from his eyes. He put an arm around her shoulder. "You ready for today?"

"I'm always ready," she smiled. "I just hope the twins enjoy it." Sakura walked back up the stone path up the the back of the house. She slipped on a pair of slippers, her feet were a tad cold, and she followed him down the hall to the twins' room.

He popped open the door only a crack and they were still asleep. Just the sound of their tiny breathing was all that was heard. Tsumi and Harumi were both in their beds.

Tsumi's raven black hair covered her face from view, it was short like Sakura's hair had been during the chunin exams. She wore it down most of the time. She had green eyes much like her mother's. She was quite different from her twin sister. Where Tsumi was more timid, Harumi was very outgoing. Harumi's hair was pink and long like her mother's, her eyes were darkly colored like her father's though. Her eyes were kind, always.

Today was their birthday. Sakura and Sasuke were going to host a birthday party for them, inviting their friends and any of the rookie nine that could make it. It being early meant that they would wake in moments. Sakura would keep them busy while Sasuke prepared decorations and pulled out the already prepared food.

Sasuke would have to watch Satoru, however. Satoru was their only son, meaning it would be him that would take carry on the family name. He was different from his sisters all together. Satoru's short black hair resembled his father's, and his dark eyes matched his father's as well. Sasuke and Sakura couldn't tell why Satoru was so silent all the time, but whenever he had something to say he chattered on and on. He loved his sisters and always trailed after them in the house, being bigger and older, the twins would leave him in their dust but come back for him when they realized this.

Sakura slipped into the bedroom, she pulled out the outfits they had all agreed upon for their fourth birthday. She got the clothes out and the girls started to wake. Sakura shushed them, "Your brother is still sleeping." She managed to get both girls dressed and she took them out to eat breakfast and visit the park.

Alone with the decorations and Satoru, Sasuke hurried to get everything ready. It was a surprise party for the most part. They didn't know that people would come over to congratulate them. They only expected all the attention of their parents for a day. Sakura had one little hand in each of her own as she walked with the twins down the road their favorite breakfast joint.

**The Party**

Sakura chased the two girls up the front path to the house as they shrieked and laughed. She caught Tsumi and tickled her and swung her around before they entered the house. Laughing left them feeling giddy. Sakura unlocked the door to watch the girls stop dead in their tracks. Harumi looked delighted by the sight of so many people that she knew were family friends. Tsumi, however, seemed to not like this idea. She backed up to stand behind Sakura's leg.

Sakura was trying to break the shyness and picked her up. Tsumi tried to hide her face in her mother's long silky pink hair. She heard many people laugh and they shouted happy birthday once more to Tsumi. Tsumi's face went bright pink.

Sasuke stepped forward and switched Sakura children. Sakura took Satoru while Sasuke hugged Tsumi and scooped up Harumi as well. He gave them a kiss on the cheek and said happy birthday.

_So many people showed up_, Sakura thought. _There's Tsunade-sama, Shizune, Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Rock Lee, Tenten, Kakashi,and Sai. _

The twins had their own friends that came over and they played while the adults talked and caught up on current events.

"So hard to believe you both have kids," Kiba had mentioned. "I haven't met the right girl. She has to be a dog person, otherwise it'd never work."

"Shikamaru?" Sakura found him standing next to Chouji. "Where's Ino? Did she not want to come? I know we invited her." She wondered if Ino would ever forgive her.

"Sakura," he sighed. "Ino was devastated about what happened with Sasuke, she's not gotten over it. She's actually talked more to Chouji than anyone lately. I don't think she will come ever, it's like accepting that she was defeated and we all know how she is about that."

"Yeah," Sakura let out a breath. "I'll have to find her sometime and say hi."

"That may not be a good idea Sakura," Chouji interrupted her. "The way she acts when your name is mentioned... It's like she could bite your head off. I wouldn't put it past her to try if she encountered you."

"...Yeah," Sakura sighed. "I figured she'd feel that way."

"Sakura," Tsunade walked over to the pink haired woman. "I wouldn't let Sai get to close to your kids... He seems to be at an odd period in finding his emotions." She turned to point to Sai who was sitting on his feet staring right at Tsumi. Her and Sai seemed to just say nothing.

"I like her," he said. "She's quiet."

"Sai!" Sasuke hit him on the head. "Please don't frighten little children. Especially on their birthday."

"What? I was just-" he tried to explain.

"She doesn't seem as youthful as Harumi," Rock Lee walked up to evaluate the small girl as well. "Is she getting the proper nutrients from you cooking Sakura?"

"My cooking?" Sakura's eyebrow raised quickly. "Of course!"

A small vein in her head was very visible, Lee stopped what he was about to say. He looked like he was sweating bullets. "I mean your cooking is excellent, I'm sure. I've never had it so I don't know. Neji is the one who asked me once."

"Neji?" Sakura's head turned slowly, she was scanning the crowd until she saw Neji standing with Tenten. She took one step but felt a tug on her pants. She looked down to see Tsumi holding onto her. Sakura was overwhelmed by a wave of affection for her daughter and began to smother her with a hug. Tsumi adored this.

It seemed like a very long day. Sasuke and Sakura picked up the wrapping paper left behind by the twins as they played with toys to their hearts content. Sakura handed Sasuke a very full bag of garbage, he carried the trash out and then Sakura handed him a plate of cake when he came back in.

"This will only add to the mess, you know?" he smiled.

"Well I figured you and I have earned ourselves some cake," she stuck her fork in and took a bite. She make a face of delight as she savored the sweetness of the frosting and the fluffy cake. The setting sun was a good sign. The twins would practically collapse from exhaustion soon.

Satoru was playing with a piece of left over wrapping paper. He folded it here and twisted it there. When he was done he tossed it towards them. It took the shape of a small child. Sasuke picked it up and studied it.

"He's got some talent," he set it down while Sakura took the plates.

"Look who his parents are," she laughed while Sasuke smiled. It were these moments that they loved. When they were alone with just the kids, just the happy atmosphere they had together.

Sasuke was always doing things to show the girls not to be afraid of anything. He wanted them to grow up and be confident and strong. Tsumi was the one he had to convince more than Harumi that the spiders weren't going to kill her. It didn't help when Sakura saw one. Sakura's method of killing a spider when Sasuke was away was funny for the kids. She picked up one of Sasuke's shoes, she threw it at the spider, hoping it would hit it. She let out a squeal whether it hit or not. Leaving it's dead carcass there until he came home.

Sakura scooped up Satoru in her arms and carried him to his room, though he didn't show it, he was tired. She changed him into his pajamas and she went to her own room to change into shorts and a tank top that sported the Uchiha symbol and colors. She found Sasuke trying to get the girls to go to sleep.

They pretended it was a game. He would leave the room and they got up. They tried to play quietly but they couldn't fool the ears of a ninja. Sakura picked up the stack of cards on the counter. It was thank you's. She didn't feel like writing them now. She waited with Sasuke until the little trouble makers fell asleep. It would take only an hour before they tired.

Then the two sleepy parents went to bed to catch up on their sleeping. The morning would come to quickly and the day would be much the same, minus the birhtday party.

They lay in the bed silent and trying hard to sleep until one broke the silence.

"Do you ever want to go back to being in the Black Ops?" Sakura turned to face her husband in the dark. The moonlight streaking in lit up only half of his face. The other side was engulfed in darkness. Though she knew he had that eye open, watching her.

"I've though about it," he whispered. "What about you?"

"One day," she confessed. "I want to go back to that. I'm going to continue working at the hospital until the kids are old enough to go to the academy. Then I might take on a genin team like you had."

"You won't be able to have the kids as students," he stated.

"They won't be old enough anyway," she made a face. "I meant ones that just graduated from the academy. When ours are just beginning in the academy."

"I'm going to continue working with my team until the kids get to be in the academy too," he opened the eye that Sakura could see. "My team is trying to get promoted to jonin now. They still have some thing I want to teach them. I was thinking of having Kakashi team up with me for that one exercise that we had to do as a team."

"Again?" she smiled. "Well they've improved I guess. I'd like to see that."

"Kakashi hasn't changed at all," he said. "He's like one person I can count on to never change."

"True," their words came slower as sleep took hold of them. Sakura felt a hand brush back the hair that had been resting on her cheek. She smiled and felt his warm breath as he moved closer to give her a goodnight kiss that she got every night. It made her face become as pink as her hair. Sasuke could still give her the butterfly feelings in the stomach.

"I love you," she said after he kissed her. "Always."

She could only see half of his face smile as he went for another kiss. When they pulled apart he said the thing that made her face blush just as much. "I love you, more than you know."

* * *

**I gave it what I like to think of as a proper ending. Thanks for reading the series up until the end. It was amazing to finish another story. It feels like a mini novel. I feel accomplished. :3 **

**I know there are spelling mistakes and errors, I'm only human and I sometimes miss these things. As long as you know what I'm getting at it shouldn't be life threatening. I want to thank everyone who has read this story, and the people who left comments. It's something I really love, comments that is. I'm gonna make another SasuSaku story sometime soon, but it might get updated slower because I'm in college now and I work and it leaves me with homework and not much freetime. I just wanted to let you know, in case you'd be interested. It'd be a completely new story, not a sequel. It'll be an AU as well. **

**I'm gonna update the summary and click complete as well. I suck at summaries but hopefully after having finished it I can give it a proper summary as well.**

**Thanks for reading, seriously, and leave me some comments. **

**Sincerely,**

**that ninja kid**


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